U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open Friday, setting the main benchmarks on track for another down day as investors zoomed in on key earnings reports, two Federal Reserve speakers and the latest oil-rig count.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 60 points, or 0.3%, to 18,048, while those for the S&P 500 gave up 7.10 points, or 0.3%, to 2,130. Nasdaq-100 futures fell 6.75 points, or 0.1%, to 4,837.
The weakness comes after U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, partly driven by a 2.3% slide for oil futures . Crude recovered a little on Friday, up 0.4% at $50.84 a barrel ahead of the weekly Baker Hughes (BHI) rig-count data.
"The past week has been all about picking winners and losers as investors mulled over a myriad of data points that seem to tell different stories. From Brexit to global growth, it's been a case of glass half full or half empty," said Dave Jeal, head of investment products at Interactive Investor, in a note.
As of Thursday's close, the S&P 500 was on track for a 0.4% weekly rise, while the Dow average was set for a 0.1% climb and the Nasdaq Composite a 0.5% advance.
Movers: The tech-heavy Nasdaq was likely to be buoyed by a jump in Microsoft Corp. shares (MSFT), which rose 5.1% premarket after a well-received earnings report late Thursday. The software giant's stock was trading above $60, representing an all-time high and topping its price during its heyday in 1999.
PayPal Holdings Inc.(PYPL) added 4.8% before the open after its earnings late Thursday met expectations.