Stock futures hint at end to Santa Claus rally

Major market index futures were soft in pre-market trading, which could indicate and end to the so-called "Santa Claus rally" and the Dow Jones industrial average index's six-day winning streak.

Ahead of the start of regular trading on Friday, Dow Jones industrial average index futures and Nasdaq composite index futures were down less than 0.1%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were down 0.1%.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 48.68 points, 0.3%, to 16,227.76 -- a record high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed up 9.09 points, 0.5%, to 1,818.69 -- also a record high. And the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index finished up 46.61 points, 1.2%, at 4,104.74. It was the index's best finish in two weeks.

THURSDAY: Dow, S&P 500 finish at record highs

Stocks have enjoyed one of their best year's in recent memory and look to finish 2013 on a strong note as investors have been encouraged by several recent indicators that the economy is on good footing.

The 10-year U.S. government bond briefly touched the key 3% level on Thursday. It remains to be seen how markets will react to rising bond yields.

BONDS: 10-year Treasury hits key 3% level

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 4.50 points, or less than 0.1%, to finish at 16,178.94, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 63.69 points, or 0.3%, to close at 23,243.24 and Shanghai's composite index rose 28.15 points, or 1.4%, to close at 2,101.25.

Major European benchmarks were up as they resumed trading following the Christmas break. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5%, Germany's DAX 30 index was up 0.8% and France's CAC 40 index was up 0.9%.