U.S. stocks look set to open unchanged or slightly higher on Friday, following a sharp fall in the previous session, as investors weigh concerns over Thursday's bombings in Madrid and the soundness of the U.S. economy. It is still unclear who was responsible for the Madrid blasts, which killed nearly 200 and wounded 1,430. Late in the previous session a London-based Arabic newspaper said it received a letter purporting to come from al Qaeda claiming responsibility, fueling a late-day sell-off. "This was a major concern, it shook people up," said Peter Dunay, chief market strategist at brokerage Wall Street Access. "The market had priced in so much good news, there wasn't much in there for bad news." Investors will take a guarded approach at the open on Friday, Dunay said. European shares recovered a little from earlier losses on Friday, as investors also wrestled with fears of terror attacks and growing economic confidence
U.S. stock futures contracts were trading higher early Friday, around fair value, suggesting a flat to slightly higher open. Technology shares may benefit from Oracle Corp. , the world's second largest software maker, which posted an 11 percent rise in quarterly net profit after the bell on Thursday, meeting analysts' expectations due to strong sales of its database software. Its shares edged higher in after-hours trading. Dell Inc. climbed in trading before the opening bell after JP Morgan raised its rating on the second-largest supplier of personal computers to "overweight" from "neutral". Investors may also take cues from U.S. current account and business inventories data due at 8.30 a.m. (1330 GMT). At 9:45 a.m. (1445 GMT), the University of Michigan releases its consumer sentiment survey, which is expected to show a slight rise. Stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday on fears that Osama bin Laden's militant Islamist al Qaeda was responsible for the Madrid blasts. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed down 168.51 points, or 1.64 percent, at 10,128.38, while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> ended down 20.26 points, or 1.03 percent, at 1,943.89. It was Nasdaq's lowest close since mid-December. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> closed off 17.10 points, or 1.52 percent, at 1106.78. Other stocks to watch on Friday include General Motors Corp. , which on Thursday said it would recall about 93,000 Oldsmobile Aurora sedans to fix cracked fuel lines after reports of more than 35 fires in the vehicles. Altera Corp. , a maker of microchips that can be programmed to perform different tasks, forecast first-quarter revenue growth at the high end of its previous target on Thursday.////