MARKET PULSE-Groupon, Ariad, Rocket Fuel, Fleetmatics, Emeritus Corp

(For more market insights, including options activity, click on ; for the Day Ahead newsletter http://link.reuters.com/mex49s; for the Morning News Call newsletter, http://link.reuters.com/nex49s) U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday, indicating that a rally that lifted the S&P 500 close to record levels in the previous session could continue, following some strong results from technology companies. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 0.12 percent at 16,119, S&P 500 futures were up 0.17 percent at 1,839.3 and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.12 percent at 3,675.75.

** HEWLETT PACKARD CO (NYSE: HPQ - news) , Thursday close $30.19, +1.03 pct premarket

The computing giant's revenue fell less than Wall Street expected in the first quarter and it raised its outlook for fiscal 2014 earnings as the company grew sales at its two largest businesses and again signaled a better year ahead.

** DISH NETWORK CORP (NasdaqGS: DISH - news) , Thursday close $57.07, +3.38 pct premarket

** CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC (NasdaqGS: CHTR - news) , Thursday close $131.84, +1.60 pct premarket

Dish Network, the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company after DirecTV (Frankfurt: DIG1.F - news) , reported a 38 percent rise in profit for the fourth quarter as it generated higher average revenue per user.

Charter Communications, the fourth-largest U.S. cable operator, posted a fourth-quarter profit, helped by growth in internet, commercial and video revenue.

** ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS INC (NasdaqGS: ARIA - news) , Thursday close $8.73, +1.72 pct premarket

The drug maker, which has been struggling with safety concerns involving its only approved drug, said it agreed to add two directors backed by its second-largest investor Sarissa Capital Management to its board.

** TECK RESOURCES LTD, Thursday close $23.39

** INTEROIL CORP, Thursday close $55.15, +3.35 pct premarket

Canada's biggest diversified miner Teck Resources could offer to buy oil and gas company InterOil (Frankfurt: 121588 - news) for about $85 per share, Britain's Daily Mail reported on Thursday. InterOil's primary operations are in the Elk and Antelope fields in Papua New Guinea. (http://r.reuters.com/tav96v)

** SHUTTERSTOCK INC (NYSE: SSTK - news) , Thursday close $82.46, +2.96 pct premarket

The commercial digital image provider reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Thursday as number of paying customers rose and forecast first-quarter and full-year revenue above analysts' estimates.

At least two brokerages raised their price targets on the stock.

** ISIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC (Stuttgart: ISI.SG - news) , Thursday close $51.07, +6.23 pct premarket

The company said its experimental drug to treat a genetic nerve disorder affecting young children increased muscle function in patients given multiple doses.

The trial tested three doses of the drug in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, a disorder caused by a defect in a gene that produces a protein necessary for the survival of nerve cells in the spinal cord.

The company said the drug also showed an increase in protein levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of children treated with the drug in single and multiple dose studies.

** NEWMONT MINING CORP, Thursday close $24.46, -2.09 pct premarket

The miner posted a fourth-quarter loss on Thursday, hurt by lower gold prices and impairment charges, and said its capital expenditure in 2014 would be 25 percent lower than last year.

** EXPRESS SCRIPTS HOLDING CO, Thursday close $77.12, -2.66 pct premarket

The pharmacy benefit manager on Thursday forecast 2014 earnings in line with Wall Street expectations and said it sees long-term earnings growth of up to 20 percent per year. The company reported fourth-quarter profit that matched analysts' estimates.

** PRICELINE.COM, Thursday close $1,283, +2.73 pct premarket

The online travel agency known for its name-your-own-price auctions posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday. Bookings for hotel stays, airline tickets and rental cars picked up at the end of the quarter for the start of 2014.

** FLEETMATICS GROUP PLC (NYSE: FLTX - news) , Thursday close $39.95, -16.87 pct premarket

The provider of software-as-a-service for fleet management late on Thursday said it expects first-quarter and FY 2014 profit to be largely below analysts' estimates. The company reported fourth-quarter profit in line with the average analyst estimate.

** GROUPON INC (NasdaqGS: GRPN - news) , Thursday close $10.279, -12.25 pct premarket

The company forecast a surprise quarterly loss as it spends more to advertise its online marketplace, which is expected to make up for its lagging daily deals business.

** JUNIPER NETWORKS (NYSE: JNPR - news) , Thursday close $27.41, +2.12 pct premarket

The company said late on Thursday it would return a minimum of $3 billion to shareholders over the next three years through a combination of share repurchases and dividends.

Earlier in the day, German's Manager Magazin Online reported that Finland's Nokia (Stockholm: NOKI-SEK.ST - news) is considering buying the U.S.-based company to merge into its telecommunications network gear business, citing unidentified sources.

** ROCKET FUEL INC (NasdaqGS: FUEL - news) , Thursday close $52.77, +5.53 pct premarket

The digital advertising technology company more than doubled its fourth-quarter revenue and reported earnings ahead of analysts' expectations on Thursday, as the number of active customers jumped and as more advertisers used Rocket Fuel for multi-channel campaigns.

** INTUIT INC (NasdaqGS: INTU - news) , Thursday close $73.85, +2.23 pct premarket

The company raised its third-quarter earnings forecast due to strong demand for its online tax-preparation software, TurboTax, in the U.S. tax-filing season and said it aims to double the number of customers in its biggest unit. The company's second-quarter revenue fell less than expected despite a delayed start to the tax-filing season.

** ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (LSE: RBS.L - news) , Thursday close $11.92, +1.51 pct premarket

The bank will make further cuts to its investment banking activities and international operations which, alongside other sale plans, could cut headcount by up to a quarter, sources familiar with the matter said. RBS, which currently employs 120,000 staff, is expected to shed between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs as a result of the revamp.

** BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING INC (NYSE: BKD - news) , Thursday close $30.09

** EMERITUS CORP (NYSE: ESC - news) , Thursday close $21.46, +33.50 pct premarket

Brookdale Senior Living said it would buy Emeritus Corp for about $1.4 billion in an all-stock deal, creating the largest owner-operator of senior housing in the United States. Brookdale will also assume $1.4 billion of Emeritus Corp's debt.

** MARVELL TECHNOLOGY GROUP LTD, Thursday close $16.125, -2.33 pct premarket

The chipmaker reported a more-than-expected 112 percent rise in profit, helped by strong demand from storage and networking companies, and said it expected its mobile business to pick up in the current quarter.

** MICROVISION INC (NasdaqGM: MVIS - news) , Thursday close $2.67, +11.99 pct premarket

Sony Corporation (Other OTC: SNEJF - news) said it is developing a projector module which uses the PicoP technology developed by MicroVision Inc and can produce high-definition resolution image that stays in focus regardless of the distance or angle.

** GENERAL MOTORS CO, Thursday close $36.51, +0.52 pct premarket

The carmaker plans to boost China sales this year by as much as 10 percent and keep pace with the country's overall auto market for the rest of the decade, the new chief of the company's China operations Matt Tsien said in an interview. Tsien plans to achieve the objectives in part by focusing on China's increasing appetite for SUVs and luxury cars.

** GOOGLE INC (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) , Thursday close $1,204.11, +0.16 pct premarket

The EU antitrust chief defended a deal with Google over how it displays web search results, following criticism from rival firms and his own colleagues, saying there had been no gentlemen's agreement to close the case.

** CITIGROUP INC (NYSE: C - news) , Thursday close $48.13

Citigroup has settled a lawsuit against Barclays Plc (LSE: BARC.L - news) in which it sought to recover more than $141 million for providing foreign exchange services to a unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc during the 2008 financial crisis.

** AGRIUM INC (Toronto: AGU.TO - news) , Thursday close $88.78

The Canadian fertilizer company reported a 72 percent decline in quarterly profit on Thursday as crop nutrient prices fell and nitrogen sales volumes weakened.

** LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP, Thursday close $164.27

The Pentagon's No. 1 arms supplier sees significant growth potential for its range of unmanned aircraft, given continued military demand for surveillance aircraft and a huge untapped market in the commercial sector.

** NOBLE ENERGY INC (NYSE: NBL - news) , Thursday close $67.12

The energy company has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to help arrange the sale of its majority stake in a small oilfield that it owns with Sinopec off northeastern China, a person familiar with the situation said.

** BOEING CO (NYSE: BA - news) , Thursday close $129.56

Australia will buy eight of Boeing's P-8A Poseidon long-range spy planes for A$4 billion ($3.6 billion), part of a growing trend by Asia-Pacific nations to protect commercial maritime interests as tensions in the region rise.

** SLM CORP, Thursday close $23.41

The student loans company better known as Sallie Mae, faces a multistate probe led by Illinois into its student loan practices, a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said on Thursday.

** CONAGRA FOODS INC (NYSE: CAG - news) , Thursday close $28.56

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday revived a lawsuit against ConAgra over the amount of sodium the company discloses on sunflower seed packages.

** EXELIXIS INC (NasdaqGS: EXEL - news) , Thursday close $7.16, -6 pct after market

The company posted a wider quarterly loss on weak revenue and higher operating expense related to clinical trials and marketing spending on its thyroid cancer drug.

(Compiled by Shailaja Sharma in Bangalore, Editing by Sriraj Kulluvila)