US STOCKS-Futures gain after rally, indexes set for strong week

* Indexes on track to break three-week streak of losses

* GE shares edge up after results, Starbucks rallies

* Oil falls, on track for another negative week

* Futures up: Dow 38 pts, S&P 4 pts, Nasdaq 5.75 pts (Updates prices, adds McDonald’s)

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) – S&P Futures climbed on Friday, adding to a sharp rally in the previous session that returned the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to positive territory for the year and putting major indexes on track to break a three-week streak of declines.

Thursday’s advance came after the European Central Bank detailed a bond-buying program to boost the region’s sagging economy and fight deflation. The program was larger than expected and will last through September 2016.

The rally took the S&P 500 above its 50-day moving average, a metric of near-term momentum that the benchmark index hasn’t closed above since Jan. 8.

With the ECB stimulus details known, U.S. corporate earnings will likely be the primary driver of trading over the next few weeks. With 15 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, 73.7 percent have topped earnings expectations while 53.9 percent have beaten on revenue, according to Thomson Reuters data. That compares with the long-term average of 63 percent for earnings and 61 percent for revenue.

General Electric Co posted a rise in fourth-quarter earnings, boosted by its power-generating turbines and jet engines divisions, though sales fell in its oil and gas unit. Shares of the Dow component rose 0.3 percent to $ 24.36 before the bell.

McDonald’s Corp fell 0.7 percent to $ 90.23 in premarket trading after the fast food giant reported a drop in fourth-quarter revenue and said it expected its January comparable sales to be negative.

Starbucks Corp rose 4.8 percent to $ 86.70 in premarket trading a day after the coffee chain reported same-store sales growth that was better than expected in its Americas region.

Crude oil prices will continue to be in focus, with additional uncertainty coming in the wake of the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. While the country’s oil policies are expected to be unchanged, the commodity has been extremely volatile of late, with its value dropping by more than half over the past six months. Oil fell 0.5 percent on Friday, reversing earlier gains, and was on track for its 15th negative week out of the past 17.

While the drop in crude prices is seen pressuring the profits of energy shares this quarter, it could lift stocks in the transportation, retail and industrial sectors.

For the week, the Dow is up 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 is up 2.2 percent and the Nasdaq is up 2.5 percent. All three are coming off three straight negative weeks.

Futures snapshot at 7:57 a.m.:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.19 percent, with 138,136 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.13 percent, in volume of 21,966 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 38 points, or 0.21 percent, with 21,567 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)