U.S. futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street, weighed by
slew of disappointing quarterly earnings reports, including Google and
General Electric Co.
Mini Dow industrial average futures lost 23 points to 12,564.00. The
Nasdaq Futures fell 1.25 points to 2,424.00. Standard and Poor's 500
futures were 3.90 points lower at 1,306.50.
On the economic front, data on existing home sales for December is
set for release at 10 a.m. EST. Economists expect existing home sales of
4.65 million for the month, following a 4 percent advance in the
previous month.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended with gains, supported by strong
quarterly numbers from major banks, including Morgan Stanley and on data
that showed jobless claims dropped to lowest in nearly four years.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (GOOG, GE, MSFT, IBM, PH, AXP, THS)
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) tumbled 7.7 percent in premarket trading
after the Internet giant reported quarterly earnings that missed
analysts' forecasts. Non-GAAP earnings per share were $9.50, while Wall
Street projected $10.49 a share. Net revenue was $8.1 billion, below
expectations of $8.4 billion.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is drawing plans to face the market
conditions in European Union, where credit crisis continues to play
truant to impact earnings of international companies. Towards this, the
company indicated that it is streamlining its businesses in the region
to echo market scenario. The company also posted below than expected
revenues, though its operating earnings came in better than expected. GE
had to face weak year-over-year profit margin in its industrial unit.
GE posted fourth-quarter operating earnings per share of 39 cents, on
revenues of $38.0 billion. The stock fell 2.1 percent in premarket.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 2.42 percent in premarket trading
after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Earnings were $6.6 million or $0.78 per share for the second quarter,
compared with $6.6 million or $0.77 per share last year. Revenue grew 5
percent to $20.9 billion. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.76
per share on revenue of $20.9 billion.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) advanced 2.7
percent in premarket trading after the company guided 2012 earnings
above consensus. IBM projected full-year non-GAAP earnings per share of
at least $14.85, while analysts expect $14.82 a share.