By Shivani Kumaresan
INTERNATIONAL - Wall Street's three main indexes were set to fall at the open on Friday as investors hit pause after a barrage of strong earnings and upbeat economic data through the week drove the benchmark S&P 500 index to record level.
A rally in shares of big technology companies following their impressive results has put all three major indexes on track for weekly gains, while setting up the Nasdaq index for a sixth straight month of increase.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are also on course for their third straight monthly gains.
"A lot of the earnings is already in, and so the market has entered a fatigue environment and investors are now going to assess the economic picture," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital in New York.
Amazon.com Inc rose 1.8 percent in premarket trading after posting record profits and signalling that consumers would keep spending in a growing US economy and converts to online shopping are not likely to leave.
Twitter Inc plunged 12.6 percent as it offered tepid revenue forecast for the second quarter, saying user growth could slow as the boost seen during the coronavirus pandemic fizzles.
Other high-flying stocks, including Facebook, Alphabet, Apple and Netflix, fell between 1.0 percent and 1.8 percent.
Strong economic growth in the first quarter, along with the Federal Reserve's stance of keeping monetary policy loose for the foreseeable future, has pushed global stocks near record highs.
Data on Friday showed US consumer spending rebounded in March amid a surge in income as households received additional Covid-19 pandemic relief money from the government.
At 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 166 points, or 0.49 percent, S&P 500 e-minis were down 26 points, or 0.62 percent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 115.75 points, or 0.83 percent.
Chevron Corp shed 2.4 percent after its first-quarter profit fell 29 percent, hit by weaker refining margins and production losses.
Gilead Sciences fell 2.8 percent after its first-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates as the coronavirus pandemic hurt sales of its flagship HIV and hepatitis C drugs.
REUTERS