U.S. stock market index futures slid Friday after several high-profile earnings misses cast doubt on the recent market rally. Traders are also bracing for key U.S. labor data. Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.6%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 69 points, or 0.2%. Struggles of major tech stocks weighed on the market. Apple and Google-parent Alphabet both missed estimates on the top and bottom lines for their December quarters. Alphabet’s stock fell more than 3% in premarket trading, while Apple shares dipped more than 1%. Amazon’s stock also declined about 4% after the e-commerce giant’s report. The earnings picture wasn’t much better outside of tech, as Ford and Starbucks also missed estimates. Those stocks fell about 6% and 2%, respectively. Investors will get a key data point about the U.S. economy on Friday morning with the January jobs report. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a jobs gain of 187,000 for January, down from 223,000 in December. The moves in futures threatened to erase some large gains for the market on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite rose 3.25% for its best day since November and is on track for a fifth-straight winning week. The S&P 500 gained 1.47%. The Dow, however, finished Thursday slightly lower, weighed down by health-care stocks, but is still positive for the week. “These last two days, and really all of January, have been really tough for those of us who were cautious,” SoFi head of investment strategy Liz Young said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday. “I don’t think that this deserves the green light. For earnings, this entire year, the story is going to be revenue, not as much about the bottom line. And revenues are dropping. We’ve heard that from everybody,” she added. Stocks in the Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Friday as shares of Adani Enterprises briefly plunged, following a sell-off triggered by allegations raised by short seller firm Hindenburg. The Nifty 50 in Mumbai closed up 1.3% as shares of some Adani companies rallied after a brief plunge earlier in the session. Shares for Adani Enterprises closed up 1.38% after being down 35% at one point during Friday’s session. Adani Ports closed up 7.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.2% in its final hour of trade. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.66% and the Shenzhen Component lost 0.63% as the Caixin purchasing managers’ index showed services activity in China picked up in January. The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.39% and the Topix traded 0.26% higher as the au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for January marked further growth for the month. In South Korea, the Kospi also rose 0.47% to 2,480.4 and the Kosdaq gained 0.28% 766.79. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.62% to 7,558.1 as investors digest new housing loan commitments for December that fell 4.3%. Oil prices eased on Friday, with major benchmarks headed for their second straight week of losses, as the market awaited further signs of fuel demand recovery in China to offset looming slumps in other major economies. Brent crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.09 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 5 cents, or 01%, to $75.83. Both contracts have dropped by more than 5% so far this week, with mixed signals on fuel demand recovery in China, the world’s top oil importer, keeping a lid on prices. Gold prices steadied on Friday after a sharp sell-off in the previous session, as traders digested rate-hike remarks from global central banks, but the metal was set for its first weekly drop in seven amid a strong dollar. Spot gold were flat at $1,912.16 per ounce, after shedding 2% in a sell-off on Thursday that was fueled by a firmer dollar and profit-taking. U.S. gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,926 per ounce.
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