FYI: U.S. stock index futures were trading mixed on Friday morning.
At around 3:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 29 points and indicated a slightly higher open. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq both edged slightly lower.
Wall Street ended Thursday on a slightly positive note on the back of earnings reports from Microsoft and Tesla. But after the bell, Amazon disappointed investors with its third-quarter results with CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly losing $6.9 billion in one evening. Shares were down nearly 7% in premarket trading.
The market focus Friday remains on the corporate sector. A-B InBev, Barclays and Verizon are among some of the major companies set to report earnings before the opening bell. Autoliv and Philips will be reporting their latest quarterly figures after market close.
European stocks ticked down on Friday as corporate earnings continued to paint a mixed picture of how the biggest businesses in the region are doing.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 edged 0.3% lower, led by declines in the food and beverages sector. Anheuser-Busch InBev was the worst performer among those stocks, plunging 10% after the world’s biggest brewer cut its earnings outlook for the full year.
France’s Ubisoft Entertainment also plummeted 20% after the maker of Assassin’s Creed and other popular videogames slashed its outlook, citing lower revenue expectations and delays for some of its titles.
On the other side of the spectrum, Kering rose 8.6% after quarterly sales of its fashion-brand Gucci climbed, despite protests in Hong Kong. Advertising giant WPP advanced 6.3% on better-than-expected sales.
A man walks in the rain past an electronic stock board in Tokyo on Friday. Photo: Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press
The British pound was largely flat having recovered from a sharp drop Thursday evening after Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for a snap general election on Dec. 12 in an effort to pressure his political opponents to back his Brexit deal. The 10-year U.K. gilt yield rose to 0.659%, from 0.627% Thursday afternoon. The FTSE 250 index, which includes many companies with a strong domestic focus, dipped 0.4%.
Over in Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite gauge gained 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.5%.
Later in the day, the University of Michigan will issue the final results of its October consumer sentiment survey. Preliminary results showed U.S. consumers were feeling more positive in early October but were still cautious.
Earnings reports from bellwether stocks like Verizon Communications in a few hours will also provide more cues about the U.S. economy.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-stocks-drift-down-as-big-businesses-report-earnings-11571994459Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-24/asia-stock-futures-mixed-amazon-weighs-on-tech-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-amazon-stock-dives-amazon-earnings-intel-earnings-intel-stock-market-rally/CNBC::
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/dow-futures-earnings-abinbev-barclays-verizon.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-breaks-off-from-four-day-winning-run-idUKKBN1X40RNU.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-breaks-off-from-four-day-winning-run-idUKKBN1X40RNEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/brewer-inbev-triggers-retreat-for-european-shares-idUSKBN1X40S1Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-as-investors-seek-direction-2019-10-24/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/bond-markets-investors-await-corporate-earnings-economic-data.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/forex-markets-european-union-meeting-brexit-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/oil-markets-global-economy-crude-demand-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/gold-markets-federal-reserve-interest-rates-in-focus.htmlCuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
