Business News : Stock futures signal retreat on Wall Street

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Friday after strong gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.4-0.7 percent.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was holding talks with European Union finance ministers on Friday on the possibility of leveraging the euro zone's bailout fund to help resolve the debt crisis.

At 9;55 a.m. ET, Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers will release preliminary September consumer sentiment index. Economists expected a reading of 56.5 compared with 55.7 in the final August report.

Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) said it planned to order 50 long-haul jetliners from Airbus (EAD.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) in a deal worth around $ 12 billion at list prices.

The Treasury Department will release net capital flows and foreign Treasury purchases for July at 1300 GMT. In June, net capital inflows w ere $ 3.7 billion, foreign net sales of U.S. Treasuries were $ 4.5 billion.

Private equity firm Silver Lake is considering a bid for internet company Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), according to reports on Thursday.

Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) releases at 1430 GMT its weekly index of economic activity for September 9. In the prior week the index read 123.0.

The Federal Reserve issues at 1600 GMT Flow of Funds Accounts of United States for the second quarter of 2011.

U.S. shares of Research In Motion (RIMM.O) were down 10 percent after the bell on Thursday as the company reported a steep drop in quarterly profit on limp sales of its smartphones and tablets.

European shares rose in early trade on Friday, adding to gains follo wing central bank action on Thursday to boost liquidity. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei average .N225 closed 2.3 percent stronger.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 186.45 points, or 1.66 percent, at 11,433.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 20.43 points, or 1.72 percent, at 1,209.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC w as up 34.52 points, or 1.34 percent, at 2,607.07.