By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) - U.S. stock futures surged on Friday after a report Citigroup may put itself on the block and following upbeat results out of Dell and Salesforce.com. Though considerably off highs of the session, S&P 500 futures rose 19.3 points to 767.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 19.5 points to 1,059.00. Dow industrial futures rose 206 points. U.S. stocks stumbled to 11-and-half year lows as hopes faded for a rescue of the automakers and as concerns grew about Citigroup's financial health. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 444 points, the S&P 500 lost 54 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 70 points. Citi's shares jumped 8% in pre-open trade on Friday, however, as The Wall Street Journal reported the bank is holding a board meeting to discuss whether to sell all or part of itself. After the massive losses for the week, traders may be simply covering their short positions to lock in gains. "It doesn't take a genius to know that if you were short all week, you've done very well," said Darren Sinden, a senior trader at Lite Financial in London. There aren't any major economic releases scheduled, though there will be a number of Federal Reserve speeches during the day. The Bank of Japan held interest rates at 0.3% and said it would take steps to aid corporate financing. The dollar rose 1% to 95.08 yen, and oil futures rose $1.31 to $50.73 a barrel. Of other stocks in the spotlight, Dell rose 6% as the computer maker said its profit dropped a less-than-forecast 5%. "Just as everyone, including us, was giving up on the company, Dell showed a glimmer of the old image as the October quarter was delivered with a 6 cent beat to First Call estimates, even with a $1 billion revenue miss," said analysts at Cowen & Co. Salesforce.com climbed 14% after reporting a stronger-than-forecast 55% profit rise. Baird upped the stock to outperform from neutral, citing the group's "encouraging" outlook for the next fiscal year. The Gap said its profit rose 3% and backed its annual earnings outlook. "Despite the good results, sales trends remain under pressure, specifically at Old Navy which accounts for about 40% of sales," said analysts at Jefferies & Co. "As a value destination, it is disappointing to see this retail giant lose market share at a time when consumers are trading down." Autodesk slumped 19% as the design software maker warned on its fourth-quarter outlook. Overseas, the FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% in London and the Nikkei 225 climbed 2.7% in Tokyo.

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