By William Watts, MarketWatch

Release of Mueller report also on radar

Stock-index futures edged lower Thursday, as investors continued to examine the flow of corporate earnings and awaited economic data, including figures on March retail sales.

Investors will also be tracking the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report to Congress on his investigation into Russian election interference.

What are indexes doing?

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off 25 points, or 0.1%, at 26,403, while S&P 500 futures were off 0.9 point at 2,899.50, down less than 0.1%. Nasdaq-100 futures fell 2.25 points, or less than 0.1%, to 7,687.50.

Stocks ended on a soft note Wednesday, dragged down by continued pressure on health-care shares. The Dow ended 3.12 points lower at 26,449.54, while the S&P 500 lost 6.61 points, or 0.2%, to 2,900.45. The Nasdaq Composite declined 4.15 points, or 0.1%, to end at 7,996.08.

What's driving the market?

Thursday's session is the last of the week; markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday. The S&P 500 is on track for a 0.2% weekly decline, while the Dow and Nasdaq are holding on to gains of around 0.2% as the first full week of earnings season draws to a close.

The first-quarter earnings outlook has improved somewhat, according to CFRA, which said consensus estimates now call for a 2.3% fall in first-quarter operating earnings per share. That's up from the call for a 3% drop ahead of the kickoff of earnings season, but down from the 4.5% increase projected at the end of last year. Meanwhile, second-quarter earnings are now forecast to eke out a 0.3% advance, CFRA said, which would avert an earnings recession -- commonly defined as consecutive quarters of falling S&P 500 profit.

An April purchasing managers index reading indicated that a downturn in European manufacturing sector is beginning to take a toll on service providers. IHS Markit said its Eurozone composite PMI -- a survey-based measure of activity in the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 51.3 in April (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurozone-april-pmi-points-to-more-weakness-2019-04-18) from 51.6 in March, a three-month low.

A flagging European economy has stoked worries about global economic growth. Global stocks found little relief Wednesday after a round of stronger-than-expected Chinese data.

Read:Why stock-market investors aren't celebrating China's upbeat GDP surprise (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-stock-market-investors-arent-celebrating-chinas-upbeat-gdp-surprise-2019-04-17)

The Justice Department is expected to provide the Mueller report to Congress and the public Thursday morning. Portions of the report will be blacked out. Attorney General William Barr is set to hold a news conference at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Analysts noted that market participants have largely ignored headlines surrounding the Russia investigation and other political turmoil, but some see scope for a negative reaction if the report appears to be less exculpatory of President Donald Trump and his campaign than Barr initially characterized in his earlier memo to Congress.

See:Mueller report: How it could unleash 'stormy weather' on the stock market (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mueller-report-how-it-could-unleash-stormy-weather-on-the-stock-market-2019-04-17)

What companies are in focus?

Share of Philip Morris International Inc.(PM) may be in focus after the tobacco company beat expectations for first-quarter earnings and revenue.

Pinterest Inc. priced its initial public offering higher than expected Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pinterest-prices-ipo-at-19-a-share-valuation-tops-10-billion-2019-04-17), raising more than $1.4 billion and valuing the company at more than $12 billion. Pinterest is expected to be joined by at least two other companies making their trading debuts Thursday, including fellow Silicon Valley company Zoom Video Communications Inc., which reportedly priced its IPO above its stated range as well.

What are analysts saying?

"Early Q1 earnings reports surprised investors favorably and are beginning to take back some of the red ink that seeped into estimates since the start of the year... What's more, with S&P 500 Q4 capital expenditures having risen by nearly 13.5% in 2018 to a float-adjusted record of $177.15, according to S&P DJ Indices, as well as the average income-tax rate for Q4 2018 dropping to 13.2% from 18.4% in Q3 2018, Q1 2019 results may extend the string of successive quarters in which actual EPS have exceeded end-of-quarter estimates to 29," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, in a note.

"We still see a new high for the S&P 500 in Q2, and maybe even in April," he said.

What's on the economic calendar?

The retail sales data is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch produced a consensus forecast for a 1.1% rise in sales after a 0.2% drop in February. Excluding autos, sales are forecast to rise 0.7% after February's 0.4% decline.

Also at 8:30 a.m., data is expected to show first-time jobless claims rose to 204,000 in the week ended April 13 from a nearly 50-year low of 196,000 a week earlier.

The Philadelphia Fed's regional index is also due at 8:30 a.m. The April reading is forecast to slip to 11.0 from 13.7 in March. Markit's manufacturing and services PMI readings for the U.S. are due at 9:45 a.m., while data on February business inventories and March leading indicators are due at 10 a.m.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2019 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)