Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, as concerns over mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine weighed on equity markets across the board, while investors eyed the release of U.S. consumer sentiment data later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.21% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% slip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.19% loss.
Market participants were eyeing upcoming U.S. data after a report on Thursday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in March, fuelling optimism over the strength of the country's economic recovery.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels on Thursday. In response, Russia launched army drills near the border, sparking fears its troops would invade.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was drawing closer to imposing more sanctions on Moscow.
The tech sector was slated to be in focus, after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) agreed to pay $324 million to settle an employee lawsuit over claims they conspired to suppress salaries by not recruiting one another’s workers.
Shares in Apple were down 0.57% in pre-market trade and Google slipped 0.18%, while Intel eased 0.07%.
In earnings news, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) said late Thursday that et income in the fiscal third quarter was $5.66 billion, or 68 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 63 cents. Sales were $20.4 billion, matching projections.
The news sent the company's stock up 2.06% in early trading.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) also moved lower on the other hand, tumbling 1.23% pre-market, after the internet retailer posted earnings of 23 cents a share, matching market expectations, while revenue was higher at $19.74 billion.
Among energy stocks, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was expected to be active after announcing plans to run higher-sulfur Alaskan and Middle Eastern crudes when it completes work at Northern California’s largest refinery in 2016.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Ford (NYSE:F), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), Moodys (NYSE:MCO) and State Street (NYSE:STT), scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.58%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.36%, Germany's DAX tumbled 0.97%, while Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.31%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng plummeted 1.50%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.17%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on consumer sentiment.