By Joseph Adinolfi and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Stocks set to weaken as earnings tone sours

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open Friday after the Dow posted its worst performance in two months in the previous session.

Strong gains by Amazon.com (AMZN) in pre-market action on the heels of a blockbuster earnings report failed to boost the broader market amid a sour overall tone to earnings.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 20 points, or 0.1%, to 17,741, while S&P 500 futures eased 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,070. Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 16 points, or 0.4%, to 4,365.

That muted start follows a tumultuous day for Wall Street on Thursday, with the Dow industrials stumbling more than 200 points (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-faces-near-100-point-loss-as-boj-surprises-market-with-no-change-2016-04-28). The main drag on the index was another losing day for Apple Inc.(AAPL)--whose earnings (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2016/04/26/apple-earnings-expected-to-show-first-iphone-sales-decline-live-blog/) earlier in the week disappointed investors--after billionaire Carl Icahn said he dumped his entire stake in the iPhone maker over China worries (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/carl-icahn-dumps-apple-stake-amid-china-concerns-2016-04-28).

"For tech shares, April has indeed been 'the cruelest month', and while the sector as a whole is still up since the February lows, it looks like any further market rally for U.S. shares may well have to contend without support from these high-growth names," said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, in a note to clients.

The Nasdaq Composite , which slid 1.2% on Thursday, is down 2% for the week and 1.3% for the month of April thus far.

Data: Personal income and outlays data showed consumer spending rose a meager 0.1% in March, missing Wall Street expectations. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-spending-rises-scant-01-in-march-2016-04-29)Stock futures remained lower after the data, which was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

The PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, showed that price pressures seen earlier in the year have abated somewhat, with the index rising just 0.8% in the 12 months ending in March.

More data lies ahead. The Chicago purchasing managers survey for April is coming at 9:45 a.m., followed by consumer sentiment for April at 10 a.m.

Stocks to watch: There were a couple of bright spots for tech on Friday. After blowing out Wall Street expectations late Thursday, shares of Amazon(AMZN) jumped 12% in premarket trading. Read:A new day for Amazon (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-new-day-for-amazon-2016-04-28)

LinkedIn Corp.(LNKD) shot up 8% in premarket after earnings and its outlook surpassed analysts expectations. Read:LinkedIn not quite dead yet (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/linkedin-not-quite-dead-yet-2016-04-28)

Baidu.com Inc. (BIDU) rose 4% in premarket after profit fell, but revenue soared for the Chinese Internet group (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/baidu-profit-drops-189-but-revenue-jumps-2016-04-29).

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) shares rose premarket after its revenue beat market expectations.

Chevron Corp.(CVX) shares slumped after a lackluster earnings report.

Tivo Inc.(TIVO) shares jumped after Rovi Corp.(ROVI) announced a cash-and-stock deal for the maker of the TiVo branded digital video recorder worth $1.1 billion.

Caterpillar Inc.(CAT) said Thursday it will close five U.S. plants and shed about 820 positions (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/caterpillar-to-shut-5-us-plants-cut-more-than-800-jobs-2016-04-28)as part of a strategy outlined in September.

Gold soars: Disappointing data and mayhem after the Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged and routed the dollar also stressed out investors on Thursday. The dollar continued to weaken against the yen on Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yen-rips-higher-against-dollar-after-boj-shocks-market-with-no-action-2016-04-28), struggling to hang onto the Yen107 level even with Tokyo markets closed for a holiday.

Pressure on the dollar continued to drive up precious metals, with gold up $12.50, or 1.2%, to $1,278.60 an ounce after closing at a seven-week high (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-silver-gain-as-boj-fed-inaction-sinks-dollar-2016-04-28). Silver rose 22 cents, or 1.3%, to $17.77 an ounce, on the heels of its best finish since May.

Read: Why gold's upward march has everything in its favor (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-has-everything-in-its-favor-2016-04-22)

Oil prices remained firmer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-fall-as-some-investors-cash-out-on-aprils-big-gains-2016-04-29), with U.S. crude poised to close at a fresh 2016 high on Friday, up 33 cents, or 0.7%, to $46.35 a barrel.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-slide-as-gdp-data-earnings-stream-in-2016-04-29) fell 1.1% amid the region's own data deluge, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-keep-sliding-in-wake-of-japans-inaction-2016-04-28) slid 1.5%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT)

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