Futures slip after China data, earnings eyed
Stock index futures fell on Thursday after stronger-than-expected economic growth data from China heightened concerns the government may further tighten monetary policy.
Chinese growth soared past forecasts and inflation slowed less than expected, which may lead the government to take more aggressive steps to quell growth.
S&P 500 futures fell 2 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 29 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 4 points.
On the earnings front, Morgan Stanley
Investors also awaited a flurry of quarterly results from companies such as Google Inc
Google is expected to report a 22 percent jump in fourth-quarter revenue, though it will face questions about long-term growth.
On the economic front, weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) and existing home sales for December will come at 10 a.m. EST. (1500 GMT) Economists in a Reuters survey expected jobless claims at 420,000, down from 445,000 last week.
Analysts look for an increase in existing homes sales to 4.85 million from 4.68 million in the prior month.
Shares of networking/cloud computing companies will be in the spotlight after F5 Networks Inc
EBay Inc
European shares extended losses on concerns about China, with banks reversing earlier session gains.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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