By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for a flat open on Friday, with the S&P set for its worst monthly showing in over a year as the likelihood of an impending Western military strike on Syria appeared to lessen and personal income data for July came in soft.
U.S.-led efforts to punish Damascus over the use of chemical weapons against civilians were dealt a blow as Britain said it will not join any military action against Syria after a parliamentary defeat of a government motion on the issue.
However, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said even after the rejection of military action by the British parliament, the U.S. will continue to seek out an international coalition to act together on Syria and France said it still backed action.
Economic data showed consumer spending barely rose, up 0.1 percent and inflation was tame in July, with a price index for consumer spending edged up 0.1 percent.
"You are getting a lot of push pull from the Syria thing - will they, won't they - and then the data," said John Canally investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston.
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"This one fits in the category of another soft report and it is going to give the Fed a problem because the economy is going to be weak and yet they are going to taper anyway."
Later in the session at 9:45 a.m. (1345 GMT), the Institute for Supply Management Chicago releases its August index of Midwest business activity. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a reading of 53.0 compared with 52.3 in July.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers' final August data is expected at 9:55 a.m. (1355 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey expect the main consumer sentiment index to read 80.5 compared with 80.0 in the preliminary August report.
The gain in futures puts the S&P on track for its third straight advance, although the benchmark index is down 1.5 percent for the week. The index is down 2.8 percent for the months, putting it on pace for its worst performance since May 2012.
S&P 500 futures rose 1.1 points and were slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were flat, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 4 points.
Volume is expected to be light on Friday ahead of the extended Labor Day holiday weekend.
General Electric Co shares rose 1.6 percent to $23.48 in premarket trade after the Wall Street Journal reported the conglomerate plans to spin off the U.S. consumer lending operations of its finance arm GE Capital.
Salesforce.com Inc jumped 8.1 percent to $47.17 before the opening bell after the company raised its fiscal 2014 sales outlook after reporting better-than-expected revenue and earnings.
Apache Corp climbed 7 percent to $84.11 in premarket trade after the oil and gas producer said it was selling a 33 percent stake in its Egypt oil and gas business for $3.1 billion to state-owned Chinese oil giant Sinopec Group.
Omnivision Technologies Inc slumped 14.2 percent to $15.80 after the chipmaker forecast current-quarter adjusted profit largely below expectations as rising competition and a slowdown of U.S. smartphone sales led to an inventory pile-up.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)