By Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures inched up Friday,
as investors weighed implications of a deadly Malaysia Airlines jet
crash in Ukraine.
The end of the week brought financial results from General
Electric Co., a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and
will bring gauges of consumer sentiment and economic activity.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) edged up 8
points to 16,949, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) rose
3 points to 1,956. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDU4) tacked
on 8 points to 3,884.
Equities on Thursday were rattled by news that 298 passengers
were killed in a Malaysia Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine, where
fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops has
been going on for months. The UN Security Council was set to hold
an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the Ukrainian-Russian
crisis in the wake of the plane crash.
The S&P 500 (SPX) on Thursday saw its biggest one-day fall
since April 10, dropping 23 points, or 1.2%, and the Dow
industrials (DJI) slid 161 points, or 0.9%, the biggest point drop
since May 15. Read: The next S&P level to watch.
After trading closed Thursday, U.S. intelligence officials said
the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Ukraine and some
Western officials have blamed pro-Russia separatists for the
attack, while Russia's President Vladimir Putin says the fault lies
with Ukraine's government. Read: Tensions grow as Putin, Western
officials trade blame over jet crash
"Given the events of today and the global equity market's
negative reaction, it is a good time to both assess the details of
today's action and review current market conditions," wrote
Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, a
global brokerage company based in New York.
Colas writes that rapidly rising oil prices can and will derail
any hope of a decent second half economic recovery in the U.S. and
in Europe.
Israel on Thursday night launched an open-ended ground invasion
of Gaza aimed at crushing Hamas militants after 10 days of aerial
bombardment.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Average fell 1% as investors sought the
perceived safety of the Japanese yen. But the U.S. dollar (USDJPY)
eventually pared its losses against the yen. European stocks slid
on the geopolitical tensions, and Russia's MICEX dropped 2.1%.
Investors will also get a look at developments in the U.S.
economy on Friday. A gauge of consumer sentiment could show an
improved outlook, aided by strengthening in the labor market. The
gauge from the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters is likely
to rise to 83, from a final June level of 82.5. It's set for
release at 9:55 a.m. Eastern Time.
Then at 10 a.m. Eastern, the Conference Board will release its
June leading-economic index report. Economists polled by Dow Jones
Newswires expect a gain, which would signal the economy will
continue to expand. The LEI in May rose 0.5%.
Ahead of the opening bell, shares of General Electric (GE) rose
1% after the industrial conglomerate's second-quarter per-share
operating earnings of 39 cents a share met Wall Street's
projection. GE also said it's targeting the IPO of its Synchrony
Financial business for the end of July.
V.F. Corp. (VFC), maker of North Face and Wrangler branded
clothing, issued a full-year earnings outlook that was below
analyst projections. Its stock fell initially, but picked up 0.6%
premarket.
Shares of AMD (AMD) tumbled 18% after the chip maker said its
second-quarter adjusted earnings were 2 cents a share, below the 3
cents a share projected by analysts in a FactSet survey.
Google (GOOG) shares were up 3% premarket, after the Internet
company late Thursday posted second-quarter revenue that beat Wall
Street's expectation, and IBM (IBM) reported late Thursday
second-quarter results that topped expectations.
In the commodities market, gold futures (GCQ4) fell $6 to $1,310
an ounce. August crude futures (CLQ4) fell 19 cents to $103 a
barrel.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
MH17 crash: Second black box retrieved by emergency crew
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