NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat market open on Friday after two days of strong gains as news from two top software companies pulled the market in different directions. Shares of software maker Oracle Corp. jumped more than 5 percent before the opening bell after the company said fourth-quarter earnings would beat earlier forecasts. For details, see ID:nWEN9587. Oracle shares were up 79 cents to $14.49 on the Inet electronic brokerage system. Microsoft Corp. shares came under pressure after it said Chairman Bill Gates will give up his day-to-day role in the company in 2008. ID:nWEN9583 Shares of Microsoft slipped 0.4 percent to $21.99 on the Inet electronic network on Thursday. "We're going to open unchanged based on futures. We have some mixed news," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist of Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont. "We got a positive report from Oracle on the tech side, but there's pressure on Microsoft from the Bill Gates announcement. S&P 500 futures were down 2.1 points but still slightly above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 25 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 5 points. U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, with the S&P and Nasdaq both making their biggest gains in more than two years, on relief that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments did not fuel inflation concerns. Strong earnings from investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. boosted financial shares. Design software maker Adobe Systems Inc. on Thursday posted lower second-quarter net income on costs associated with its acquisition of Macromedia and lowered its profit and revenue forecasts for 2006. ID:nN15414009 Adobe shares were down 0.9 percent to $28.70 in trading before the bell on Inet. The University of Michigan releases its preliminary consumer sentiment index for June at 9:45 a.m. (1345 GMT). Economist forecast the sentiment slipped slightly this month to 79.0 from 79.1 in the previous month. Indian drug maker Jubilant Organosys Ltd. could bid more than $500 million for New Jersey-based drug firm Cambrex Corp. , the Economic Times newspaper reported on Friday. ID:nBOM176977
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