Wall Street headed to a higher open Friday after the government reported that orders for big-ticket items rose at the fastest pace in four months, sharply higher than analysts expected.

The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods increased 0.8 percent last month, far better than the 0.4 percent decline that economists had been expecting. It was the best showing since a 1.1 percent rise in February and reflected strength in demand for heavy machinery, primary metals such as steel and even a slight rebound in the beleaguered auto industry.

The data could persuade investors to move back into stocks after a big sell-off on Thursday, when investors worried about a steeper-than-expected decline in existing home sales and concerns about financial services companies. The Dow Jones industrial gave up more than 280 points.

But Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 28, or 0.11 percent, to 11,379 on Friday.

Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.80, or 0.14 percent, to 1,255.40. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 6.75, or 0.37 percent, to 1,826.25.

Bond prices moved lower as investors were expected to shift back into stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.03 percent from 4.00 percent from late Thursday.

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

Oil extended a slight rebound, rising to near $126 a barrel after several declines over the past two weeks. The market remained weighed down by the belief that flagging fuel demand did not justify the recent high prices. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 20 cents to $125.69 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors are also awaiting a government report expected to show new home sales in June fell for the seventh time in the past eight months. The Commerce Department’s report is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. EDT.

Sales are expected to have declined by 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 505,000, down from a rate of 512,000 in May, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

A revised report on July consumer sentiment is expected to show that Americans remain downbeat about the economy. Wall Street expects the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly index of consumer sentiment to come in at 56.4, according to estimates. That would be down slightly from the preliminary reading of 56.6, and unchanged from the June index of 56.4, which was the lowest level in 28 years. The final July report will be released at 9:55 a.m. EDT.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.97 percent. In morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.75 percent, Germany’s DAX index dropped 1.05 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.23 percent.

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