Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady open on Friday, as markets were jittery after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports on Thursday, while investors awaited additional U.S. data due later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.06% dip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.06% downtick.
On Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday said U.S. gross domestic product contracted 1.0% in the first quarter, after the preliminary estimate showed growth of 0.1%.
Market expectations had been for a 0.5% contraction. It was the first decline in U.S. GDP since the first quarter of 2011.
Separately, the Department of Labor said in a separate report that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 27,000 to 300,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 9,000.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) was expected to be in focus, as shares dropped 0.56% pre-market following news Christopher Fry stepped down as the microblogging service’s head of engineering, shifting to an advisory role.
Also in the tech sector, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) edged down 0.11% in late trading as the company's decision earlier in the week to reveal its lack of personnel diversity reportedly added pressure on other Silicon Valley companies to increase the number of women and minorities among technology workers.
On Wednesday, Google said that women make up 30% of employees and that 91% of its staff are either white or Asian.
Among auto stocks, General Motors (NYSE:GM) was set to be in the spotlight after saying it wants a New York court to handle lawsuits arising from its ignition defect recall. According to lawyers for car owners, deaths caused by the flaw excee the automaker’s count of 13.
Elsewhere, Express (NYSE:EXPR) cut its annual forecast and announced plans to close 50 stores over the next three years, sending shares in the retail chain diving 11.59% in early trading.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.16%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.25%, Germany's DAX rose 0.28%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.01%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.31%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.34%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on personal income and expenditure, as well as revised data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.