By Barbara Kollmeyer U.S. stock futures edged lower on Friday as traders brace for the expiration of key options and futures contracts and start to look ahead to a key Group of 20 meeting next week. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 point to 10364, while those for the S&P 500 fell 1.2 points to 1110.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5 points to 1909.25. After a late reversal, U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, as gains in technology helped offset the impact of mostly weak economic reports and a successful bond auction in Spain helped soothe concerns over Europe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 24.71 points, or 0.2%, at 10434.17, while the S&P 500 rose 1.43 points to end at 1116.04. The Nasdaq Composite finished off 1.23 points, or 0.1%, to 2307.16. Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, chief equity strategist at Saxo Bank, said there are opposing market forces keeping stocks range bound. "First you have the bullish force--expectations for a strong second quarter earnings season is starting to get priced in. Given that there is a low base, we expect surprises to the upside and markets are in my view starting to anticipate this (even though it is a bit early)," he said in emailed comments. The bearish force, meanwhile, is next weekend's G-20 meeting in Toronto June 26-27 and proposals on financial tax and regulation being presented now. "The EU is standing with a united front against Brazil, China and Canada wanting a financial transaction tax and more regulation on the financial sector. "There is no doubt that a financial transaction tax will be devastating for the European banking sector and for growth within Europe if this should be carried out without international consent on the issue," said Blaabjerg. "The U.S. position on this is very unclear." Analysts at Credit Suisse Group (CS) noted "quadruple witching" for Friday markets. That's when stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures all expire and can make for a hectic day for traders. However, a market upturn as of late is believed to have reduced volatility, dulling the effect of quadruple witching somewhat. There is no data on tap for markets on Friday. BP PLC (BP) shares rose over 3% in pre-open trade. Chief Executive Tony Hayward told Congress on Thursday the cause of the oil spill is still unknown. UniCredit S.p.A. (UCG.MI, UNCFF) cut the shares to hold, saying investors should look beyond the relief rally triggered by the dividend suspension and the escrow account funding. The broker said the clean-up/response costs will be some $7.9 billion post-tax with compensatory and punitive liabilities of $32.8 billion post-tax. Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) shares dropped nearly 5% in pre-open trade. A study in the journal Diabetes Care suggests Lantus raises the risk of cancer versus other insulins, analysts at Bernstein said. Sanofi said "the risk for cancer in subjects with diabetes has been the matter of extensive scientific debate for decades. Available evidence remains inconclusive." That news put a recent winning streak for European stocks in jeopardy. Banks however were stronger on hopes for more certainty over loans and debt exposure. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said stress tests on European banks will be published in July. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero meets with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Madrid on Friday. Market rumors have been swirling for days that Spain is the verge of receiving some sort of bailout help or a line of credit from the IMF and EU, and possibly the U.S. Treasury. However, many fears have been calmed after Spain's successful bond auction on Thursday and officials were quoted in local newspapers as saying Spain won't need to tap the market for upcoming July maturities. In Asia, commodity producers fronted gains in Sydney, while Shanghai shares tumbled as investors took profits in a range of stocks that recently have outperformed the benchmark index. The euro slipped against the dollar at $1.2369. -By Barbara Kollmeyer; 34 91 395 8131; AskNewswires@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 07:39 ET (11:39 GMT)