(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street amid uncertainty over action from the major policymakers to stimulate global growth.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures shed 22 points to 13,017. The Nasdaq futures slipped 5.75 points to 2,755.25. Standard and Poor's 500 futures fell 3.80 points to 1,396.20.
On the economic front, durable-goods orders for July rose for a third straight month, jumping 4.2 percent and also came in better than economists expectations of a 2.4 percent increase. New orders - excluding transportation - surprisingly fell 0.4 percent, versus expectations of a 0.5 percent advance. In June, orders for durable goods rose 1.6 percent, while dropping 2.2 percent excluding transportation. Durable-goods orders measures the change in the total value of new orders for long lasting manufactured goods.
Investors also kept a close watch on a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Samaras is also due to meet euro zone chief Jean Claude Juncker to seek more time for implementing austerity measures needed for the debt-laden country to receive bailout funds.
Also denting on the negative sentiment were comments from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard, who said on CNBC that minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting were "a bit stale" because U.S. data has been somewhat better since then. Many central-bank officials favored another round of stimulus, the minutes showed.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended in red as concerns about the financial situation in Europe and surprise rise in domestic jobless claims dented sentiment.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: LLY, BMY, CRM, ADSK, QEP, ARUN, MENT, SVU
In corporate news, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) jumped 8.58 percent in premarket after the drugmaker said its experimental Alzheimer's drug did not meet its primary objectives in trials. It said studies showed a statistically significant slowing of cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, but not in patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) may be in focus after the biopharmaceutical company discontinued development of an experimental hepatitis C drug following the death of a clinical trial patient due to heart failure.
salesforce.com inc. (NYSE:CRM) shed 3.83 percent in premarket after the enterprise cloud computing company reduced its earnings forecast for the year and guided third-quarter profit below market expectations following a wider quarterly loss.
Autodesk Inc.(NASDAQ:ADSK) sank 23.77 percent in premarket trading after the software provider issued a downbeat third-quarter view following weaker-than-expected second quarter results. The company also disclosed its restructuring plans, which include job cuts in the near-term.
QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE:QEP) has paid a penalty of $1.2 million for keeping inaccurate records of royalty and production reports, the U.S. Department of the Interior said. Separately, the company agreed to acquire crude oil development properties in the Williston Basin for roughly $1.38 billion.
ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE:SOL) slipped to a quarterly loss, wider than market expectations, as revenue declined amid fall in the average selling price (ASP) of solar wafers.
Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ:MENT) advanced 6.03 percent in premarket after the supplier of electronic design automation systems raised its earnings outllok following in-line quarterly results.
Aruba Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN) surged 13.77 percent after the company posted better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and revenue amid expansion of margins.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE:SVU) added 8.49 percent in premarket. Bloomberg reported that the owner of supermarket chains is seeking bidders for the entire business.
Global Markets:
European markets traded in red, with Germany's DAX down 0.46 percent to trade at 6,917.72. France's CAC40 fell 0.48 percent to 3,416.20. U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.36 percent to trade at 5,756.09.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index declined 0.99 percent to finish at 2,092.10. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.17 percent to end at 9,070.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 1.25 percent to end at 19,880.03. India's BSE Sensex closed at 17,783.21, down 0.38 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures dipped 0.21 percent to $96.07 per barrel. Gold futures slipped 0.22 percent to $1,669.2 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro declined 0.45 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.2507 and the British pound shed 0.15 percent to 1.5835. The dollar inched up 0.04 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.5200.