NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street headed for a higher open Friday after Citigroup Inc. issued a better-than-expected earnings report, offsetting disappointing results from several other big comapnies.

Futures began the day lower after Google Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., and Microsoft Corp. had all posted quarterly results that missed analysts' expectations after the closing bell on Thursday. Meanwhile, oil prices moved higher after falling $15 over three days amid news of an output cut in Nigeria.

But Citi's better-than-expected results helped assuage nervous investors. The largest U.S. bank by assets reported a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss due to write-downs tied to deteriorating credit markets.

Dow Jones industrial futures rose 24 points, or 0.21 percent, to 11,425.

Citi's report followed stronger-than-expected reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. that helped relieve some of investors' worries about the health of the banking sector. Wall Street has grown concerned that souring mortgage debt would force some banks to go under. The Dow had triple digit gains Wednesday and Thursday in response to the banks' reports.

Bond prices were higher Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.98 percent from 4.00 percent from late Thursday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Oil prices moved higher. Light, sweet crude rose $2.63 to $131.92 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil had declined $15 over straight days, feeding perceptions that the boom in raw materials may be cooling off.

Google's earnings growth bogged down more than investors anticipated during the second quarter, raising worries that the ailing U.S. economy is starting to sap the Internet search leader. The search leader missed Wall Street projections.

Merrill Lynch reported it lost $4.89 billion during the second-quarter, hurt by almost $10 billion of write-downs and charges. The world's largest brokerage also sold its stake in news and data provider Bloomberg LP, and will sell its stake in First Data Services Inc., to raise more capital.

Microsoft reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 42 percent — or 13 percent factoring in a hefty charge a year ago. However, it missed Wall Street projections.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.65 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.60 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.02 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.34 percent.

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