US Stock Futures Flat; GE Earnings In Focus
US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, ahead of earnings from General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3 points to 12,563 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.60 points to 1,307.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.50 points to 2,428.75.
US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.36% to 12,623.98, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.49% to 1,314.50 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.67% to 2,788.33.
Data on existing home sales for December will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
General Electric is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.38 on sales of $40.05 billion. Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE: SLB) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.09 per share on sales of $10.8 billion.
SunTrust Banks Inc (NYSE: STI) is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.26 on revenue of $2.09 billion. Comerica Inc (NYSE: CMA) is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.47 on revenue of $620.9 million.
Parker Hannifin Corp (NYSE: PH) is estimated to report its FQ2 EPS at $1.62 on sales of $3.09 billion. First Horizon National Corp (NYSE: FHN) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $361.4 million.
Shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) dipped about 8.1% in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.
Shares of Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) gained about 0.9% in pre-market trading after the company reported a 6% rise in its profit in the latest quarter.
Shares of International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) gained about 2.1% in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
Shares of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) gained about 2.3% in pre-market trading after the company reported its FQ2 profit at $6.62 billion, or $0.78 per share, on revenue of $20.89 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.76 per share on revenue of $20.9 billion.
European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.28%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.10%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.24% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.25%.
Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.4663%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.00% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.57%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8395% and India's Sensex surged 0.57%.
Gold futures for February delivery dropped $7.20 to $1,647.30 an ounce. Crude-oil futures for February delivery declined $0.65 to $99.74 a barrel.
The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.32% to trade at 80.33 on Friday.
