US equity futures posted narrow gains ahead of Friday's opening bell as traders searched for cues on the second trading day of 2025.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.3%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.4%.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.2% at $76.09 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.4% at $73.44 per barrel.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index, scheduled for release at 10 am ET, is seen coming in at 48.2 in December versus 48.4 in November, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

In other world markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.7% higher, China's Shanghai Composite finished 1.6% lower, while the Japan's markets were closed for a holiday. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 1.1%, Germany's DAX declined 0.5%, France's CAC 40 fell 1% and Spain's IBEX 35 gained 0.1% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Cerence (CRNC) were nearly 36% higher pre-bell after the company said it expanded its collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to advance its Cerence family of language models.

On the losing side, United States Steel (X) shares fell nearly 8% after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's proposed takeover of the company.