By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures fell Friday, pressured by declines in
European markets and downbeat first-quarter corporate reports.
S&P 500 futures declined 13 points, or 0.6%, to 2088. E-mini
Dow futures lost 139 points, or 0.8%, to 17902, and e-mini
Nasdaq-100 futures fell 35 points, or 0.8%, to 4380. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
European stocks tumbled, while German government bonds traded at
record low yields. Germany's DAX fell 1.9% and France's CAC 40
declined 1.4%. Investors also continued to fret about Greece's
financial situation and the risk of a debt default.
"With Greece, there's just the unknown of how this is all going
to play out, and we're coming down to crunch time," said John
Brady, managing director at futures brokerage R.J. O'Brien.
Investors had to contend with technical problems after
Bloomberg's financial terminals went down globally on Friday,
resulting in disruption for traders who rely on the data machines
to trade securities and causing the U.K. to postpone a scheduled
multibillion buyback of government debt. By early afternoon in
Europe, a Bloomberg spokesman said that services to most customers
had been restored. Bloomberg is a competitor of Dow Jones and The
Wall Street Journal on financial news.
In earnings news, American Express Co. on Thursday said
first-quarter net income rose 6.5% as card holders increased
spending and borrowing. The company said results were hurt by the
strong U.S. dollar. Shares fell 1.7% premarket.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter loss
widened as revenue slumped. The company said it was exiting its
dense server systems business, effective immediately. Revenue and
the loss excluding items missed expectations, pushing shares down
10% premarket.
General Electric Co. said its revenue fell a worse-than-expected
12% in its first quarter. The conglomerate swung to a loss as it
took a charge on its plan to sell off the bulk of its lending arm
and refocus on industrial operations. Still, shares rose 0.7%
premarket.
Stocks ended little changed Thursday, with the Dow shedding less
than 0.1% to 18105.77. The S&P slipped 0.1% to 2104.99.
Stock-market swings have been muted in recent sessions. The Dow
and S&P haven't posted a 1% daily move so far this month.
Still, the major indexes are hovering just below all-time highs.
The Dow is 1% away from its record and the S&P is 0.6% below
its record, both set in early March. The Nasdaq is 0.8% shy of its
all-time high from March 2000.
"The thing that we have been really emphasizing is allocating
capital where capital is scarce," said Matt Moore, managing
director and partner at HighTower. "Capital has been scarce in
developed international markets," he added, pointing to European
and Asian stock markets.
Even with the huge gains in European stocks this year--Germany's
DAX has had several records in 2015, he continues to recommend
stocks in Europe and Asia. "The U.S. is fine, but people are saying
these other opportunities look pretty attractive," he said.
In economic news, consumer prices rose in March for the second
month in a row, a sign that U.S. inflation may be stabilizing. The
consumer-price index rose 0.2% from a month earlier, the Labor
Department said. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and
energy categories, rose 0.2%. Economists surveyed by The Wall
Street Journal expected prices to rise 0.3% and core prices to
increase 0.1%.
Later in the morning, a preliminary reading on consumer
sentiment for April is due.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.886% from 1.878% on
Thursday. Yields rise as prices fall.
In commodity markets, gold futures added 0.4% to $1203.00 an
ounce. Crude-oil futures slipped 0.8% to $56.25 a barrel.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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