US Stock Futures Mixed As Investors Await Economic Data, Earnings Reports; Research In Motion Shares Decline In Pre-Market trading

US stock futures are mixed this morning as investors are awaiting economic reports and corporate results. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 points to 12,704.00 and S&P 500 index futures dropped 0.40 point to 1,354.50. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.50 point to 2,402.25. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.57% to 12,763.31, the S&P 500 index surged 0.36% to 1,360.48 and the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.09% to 2,872.53. Data on personal income for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI survey for April will be released at 9:45 am. The University of Michigan final April consumer sentiment index is due at 9:55 a.m. ET. Newell Rubbermaid Inc NWL is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $0.28 on revenue of $1.33 billion. ITT Corp ITT is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.93 per share on revenue of $2.65 billion. Merck & Company Inc MRK is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $11.37 billion. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co GT is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.12 on revenue of $4.77 billion. Caterpillar Inc CAT is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.31 per share on revenue of $11.52 billion. NextEra Energy Inc NEE is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $3.46 billion. Chevron Corp CVX is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $3.04 on revenue of $66.62 billion. Shares of Research In Motion Ltd RIMM dipped about 11.1% in pre-market trading after the company cut its Q1 profit projections, due to lesser-than-expected shipments of its BlackBerry smartphones. The company now projects Q1 earnings of $1.30 to $1.37 per share, down from earlier forecast of $1.47 to $1.55 per share. However, analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.65 per share for the current quarter. Microsoft Corp MSFT reported a sharp rise in its FQ3 profit. The company's quarterly net income increased to $5.2 billion, or $0.61 per share, from $4 billion, or $0.45 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's revenue surged 13% to $16.4 billion. The latest quarter earnings included a tax benefit of $0.05 per share. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.55 per share on revenue of $16.2 billion. MSFT's revenue of its Windows operating system dropped 4% year-over-year. European markets were lower today, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.03%. Most Asian markets ended lower, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.07% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.84%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.36% and India's Sensex lost 0.83%. Markets in Japan and London were closed for national holidays. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.1% to 72.978. Crude-oil futures for June delivery declined $0.20 to $112.65 a barrel. However, gold futures for May delivery gained $4 to $1,534.80. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.