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Stock futures were rising early Friday as concerns about Greek debt problems waned and on signs that the U.S. economy was continuing its slow, steady recovery.

U.S. markets were spooked Thursday morning after worries again grew about Greece's ability to repay debt. Those concerns began to ease in the afternoon as traders turned their focus to upbeat March sales reports from retailers. The Dow Jones industrial average snapped a two-day losing streak and crept back toward the psychological 11,000 barrier.

Dow Jones industrial average futures Friday are up 19, or 0.2 percent, at 10,903. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are up 2.50, or 0.2 percent, at 1,186.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 5.00, or 0.3 percent, at 1,985.00.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 49.74 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,762.44 while Germany's DAX rose 57.02 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 6,228.85. The CAC-40 in France was 49.86 points, or 1.3 per cent, higher at 4,028.32.

On Thursday, the main focus in the markets, particularly in Europe, centred on Greece once again amid mounting concerns about its ability to get a handle on its debt as it attempts to raise billions of euros in the bond markets over the coming few weeks.

However, an attempt by European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet to assuage market fears about a potential Greek default appears to be working, for now, at least, as the spread between 10-year Greek and bond yields - a crucial gauge of investor sentiment - has dropped back from Thursday's high of nearly 4.5 per cent.

The positive U.S. retail sales also boosted commodity prices, with oil snapping two days of losses to trade above $86 (U.S.) a barrel, while copper prices gained 0.9 percent.

Gold rose 0.4 percent, extending its gains to a fifth day and heading for its biggest weekly rise since early January.