US Stock Futures Point To Lower Open Ahead Of Corporate Earnings From General Electric, Honeywell, Schlumberger

U.S. stock futures point to a lower open on Friday following Thursday’s record highs, and ahead of corporate earnings statements from companies such as General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB).

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.20 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.18 percent, and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.21 percent.

A number of major companies, including First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI), along with General Electric, Honeywell and Schlumberger, will announce quarterly earnings before market hours.

On Thursday, buoyed by stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings from a number of major companies, followed by a sharp drop in jobless claims, the DJIA and S&P 500 rose to their all-time trading highs. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was weighed down by disappointing quarterly performances from eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).

Investors are also expected to focus on the G-20 meeting starting on Friday in Moscow, where finance ministers and central bank governors from member nations are expected to discuss fiscal policy, euro zone developments, financial supervision and IMF reforms.

Analysts expect leaders to also discuss the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plan to wind down its asset-purchase program.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was trading down 0.35 percent, retreating from a seven-week high recorded in the previous session, while London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.46 percent. Germany's DAX-30 was down 0.51 percent and France's CAC-40 was trading down 0.55 percent.

In Asia, markets traded mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei witnessing choppy trade ahead of the Diet’s upper house elections on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, data released by the government showed that Japan’s All Industries Activity Index, which measures the monthly change in overall production by all sectors of the Japanese economy, rose at 1.1 percent in May, compared to analysts’ expectation of a 1.3 percent growth. The index posted a reading of 0.1 percent in April.

However, analysts pointed out that the selloff in Japanese markets -- the Nikkei ended down 1.48 percent after falling 2.7 percent during intraday trade on Friday -- was not connected to any particular news.

“It’s just positioning. ... The market was long, and the Nikkei Stock Average has failed to break significantly higher despite the fact that the S&P 500 breached its May highs. ... [For traders], if you don’t like the move, you get out,” said Ben Collett, head of Asian equities at Sunrise Brokers, MarketWatch reported.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.43 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.52 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended flat, while South Korea’s KOSPI Composite index ended the day down 0.22 percent.

India’s BSE Sensex was trading up 0.20 percent in late-afternoon trade on Friday, down from an earlier rally driven by robust quarterly earnings from the country’s top IT exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (BOM: 532540), and mid-tier technology company, MindTree Ltd. (BOM: 532819).