By Shivani Kumaresan
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures retreated 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 levels.
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.
Amazon.com Inc rose 2.3% in premarket trading after posting record profits and signaling that consumers would keep spending in a growing U.S. economy and converts to online shopping are not likely to leave.
Twitter Inc plunged 12.7% 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 Inc, Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc and Netflix Inc, fell between 0.9% and 1.8%.
Data on Friday is expected to show U.S. consumer spending likely jumped 4.1% in March after slipping 1% in February, with the core PCE index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, also expected to rise last month.
At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 180 points, or 0.53%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 27.25 points, or 0.65%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 116 points, or 0.83%.
Chevron Corp shed 2.0% after its first-quarter profit fell 29%, hit by weaker refining margins and production losses.
Gilead Sciences Inc fell 2.8% 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.
(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
