By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Oracle shares slide after disappointing numbers for its cloud business

U.S. stock futures advanced on Friday, on track to add to weekly gains as investors appeared to shake off the latest worries over progress for tax cuts.

What are stock futures doing?

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95 points, or 0.4%, to 24,647, while those for the S&P 500 index added 8.35 points, or 0.3%, to 2,664.50. That puts both indexes on track for their fourth straight week of gains, even after ending lower on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-shapes-up-to-hit-fresh-record-with-retail-sales-data-in-focus-2017-12-14).

The Dow average closed fell 0.3% on Thursday, while the S&P 500 index erased 0.4%, paring their weekly advances to 0.7% and 0.02%, respectively.

Futures for the Nasdaq-100 Index added 19.25 points, or 0.3%, on Friday to 6,428. The Nasdaq Composite Index on Thursday fell 0.3%, but was on track for a 0.2% weekly advance.

What's driving the markets?

Analysts said Friday's upbeat tone was a rebound from the weak close on Thursday, when worries surrounding Republican-led efforts in Washington to cut taxes cropped up again.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told Senate leaders he'll vote against the tax bill unless it includes a larger expansion of the child tax credit. Several Republican senators have now expressed doubts about the tax overhaul that is expected to be put up for a final vote next week, according to The Wall Street Journa (https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-senate-republicans-reach-deal-on-final-tax-bill-1513185360)l.

Expectations for tax cuts and an overhaul in U.S. tax polices have helped boost stock markets this year and a failure to push through the bill could end the current rally, analysts say.

Some of the last earnings reports of the year were also in focus, particularly figures from Oracle Corp.(ORCL), whose shares slumped 5% ahead of the bell on Friday. The software company late Thursday delivered disappointing second-quarter growth numbers for its cloud business (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-shares-slide-as-cloud-growth-misses-street-view-2017-12-14).

What are strategists saying?

"The news from Marco Rubio yesterday has cast a little more doubt over the tax reform bill and left Wall Street in a little bit of pain last night. However, yesterday really saw the end of the big data before the Christmas break, so I think with volume dropping and us approaching the weekend [the bounce today] is just a bit of a correction from the losses yesterday," said James Hughes, chief market analyst at AxiTrader, in emailed comments.

"There is still optimism that the tax deal will happen despite Rubio's comments so overall markets are just correcting and traders are positioning ahead of what will be a low volume week. However the lower volume often means the moves can be more erratic," he added.

What's new in economics?

The Empire State manufacturing index fell slightly (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/empire-state-index-slips-for-third-month-in-december-2017-12-15)in December, to a reading of 18 from 19.6 in November, the New York Fed said Friday. Any reading above zero indicates improving conditions, though it's the third drop in a row.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expect industrial production rose 0.4% last month and that capacity utilization came in at 77.3%.

Which stocks are in focus?

Adobe Systems Inc.(ADBE) rose 2% in premarket action after beating forecasts with its earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adobe-shares-rise-after-fourth-quarter-earnings-beat-2017-12-14) out late Thursday.

Shares of Under Armour, Inc.(UAA) rose 3% premarket after the sport apparel maker announced official partnership with Team Canada through 2024.

Costco Wholesale Corp.(COST) could also move after the retailer in Thursday's after-hours session reported first-quarter earnings and sales above Wall Street forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/costco-shares-rise-after-retailers-q1-earnings-beat-2017-12-14).

Shares of Twitter Inc.(TWTR) could see active trade on Friday after closing at a 14-month high on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-surges-toward-14-month-high-2017-12-14). Traders said the rally came as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein tweeted a photo of himself with Twitter boss Jack Dorsey at the company's San Francisco headquarters, according to Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-14/blankfein-photo-gets-traders-talking-again-about-twitter-takeout).

Shares of CSX Corp.(CSX) dropped 10% after railroad disclosed chief executive Hunter Harrison is taking a medical leave.

What are other markets doing?

The dollar was largely flat, with the ICE U.S. Dollar index marginally lower at 93.481.

Crude oil (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-fights-to-stay-positive-as-supply-concerns-niggle-2017-12-15) added 0.3% to $57.23 a barrel, while gold climbed 0.2% to $1,259.60 an ounce.

Bitcoin futures rallied 7.4% to $18,050, after falling for three straight sessions. Spot bitcoin prices were up 6.1% at $17,546.25, according to CoinDesk.

Asian markets closed mainly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-track-wall-street-declines-kospi-rebounds-2017-12-15), following the weaker close in the U.S. on Thursday. The negative sentiment also spilled over to Europe , where all major indexes traded in red.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 15, 2017 08:54 ET (13:54 GMT)