US Stock Futures Down Ahead of General Electric, McDonald's Earnings

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from General Electric Co GE and McDonald's MCD. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 9 points to 13,478.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.90 points to 1,450.60. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3.75 points to 2,729.00. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.06% to 13,548.94, the S&P 500 index falling 0.24% to 1,457.34 and the Nasdaq 100 index dipping 1.01% to 3,072.87. Data on existing-home sales for September will be released at 10 a.m. ET. General Electric Company is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.36 per share on revenue of $36.89 billion. Air Products & Chemicals APD is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.43 on revenue of $2.51 billion. Baker Hughes BHI is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.84 per share on revenue of $5.44 billion. McDonald's is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.48 per share on revenue of $7.15 billion. Honeywell International HON is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.14 on revenue of $9.51 billion. ManpowerGroup MAN is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.68 per share on revenue of $5.11 billion. Shaw Group SHAW is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.36 on revenue of $1.44 billion. Cooper Industries plc CBE is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.14 on revenue of $1.48 billion. Parker-Hannifin PH is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.96 per share on revenue of $3.45 billion. Kansas City Southern KSU is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.84 on revenue of $578.42 million. Microsoft MSFT reported a 22% drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit. Advanced Micro Devices AMD posted a Q3 loss and announced its plans to lay off 1,770 workers. Shares of Google GOOG dropped 8.01% during regular trading hours yesterday after the company's third-quarter results were released ahead of schedule. The company's earnings missed Wall Street's estimates. Riverbed Technology RVBD reported upbeat third-quarter adjusted earnings. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.22%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.03%, French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.33% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.34%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.22%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.16% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.28%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.15% and India's Sensex dropped 0.50%. Gold futures for December delivery dropped $10 to trade at $1,734.70 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.09% to trade at 79.42, up from 79.207 in late North American trading on Thursday.