U.S. futures lower, durable goods orders in focus; Dow Jones down 0.24%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, ahead of the release of U.S. economic data later in the day, while expectations for a near-term end to the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program continued to weigh.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.24% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.37% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.38% loss.

Investors remained cautious after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that the bank could begin tapering its bond-buying program.

In testimony to the U.S. Joint Economic Committee, Fed Chairman Bernanke said a decision to scale back the Fed’s asset purchase program could be taken in the "next few meetings" if economic data continued to improve.

Tech stocks were likely to remain in focus, after Hewlett-Packard soared over 17% on Thursday, a day after the world's largest PC maker raised its 2013 earnings outlook following quarterly results that beat expectations. Shares slid 0.44% in pre-market trade.

Among Internet-related companies, Google fell 0.26% in early trading, amid reports the maker of the Android operating system is considering buying map-software provider Waze Inc, possibly leading to a bidding war with Facebook.

In company news, consumer products maker Procter & Gamble was said to be replacing Chief Executive Officer Bob McDonald with his predecessor, A.G. Lafley. Shares were up 1.21% pre-market.

Other stocks in focus included Abercrombie & Fitch and Footlocker, scheduled to report first-quarter earnings later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.18%, France’s CAC 40 eased up 0.06%, Germany's DAX slid 0.59%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.59%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.58%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on durable goods orders.