1. Stock futures up just slightly despite Big Tech blowout earnings
Futures tied to major U.S. equity indexes were higher by just a tad Friday morning even after the tech giants reported stellar earnings. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 40 points, or 0.1%, implying an opening gain of about 55 points. S&P 500 futures gained just 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures, tracking the predominantly tech-focused index, outperformed and rose 0.8%.
Through Thursday's close, the Dow is down 0.59%, on pace for its second straight negative week. The S&P 500 has gained almost 1% this week, and the Nasdaq Composite rallied more than 2%.
2. Amazon, Apple and Facebook earnings crushed Wall Street expectations
Apple posted a historically strong quarter, with revenue jumping 11% amid strong online sales during the pandemic. Shares gained 7% in premarket trading. Amazon, which beat earnings expectations and reported double-digit revenue growth year over year, saw its shares climb 6% before the bell. Meanwhile, Facebook reported 11% revenue growth even amid the pandemic slowdown, sending shares up nearly 7% premarket.
Alphabet's results were slightly disappointing, however. The Google parent-company reported its first revenue decline in history. The company beat most expectations with the exception of its Cloud division. Its shares were flat premarket.
Thanks to those largely strong results, these four giants collectively added roughly $200 billion to their market values with their premarket gains set to push them over the $5 trillion mark total.
3. Congress fails to agree on the next stimulus deal
The current $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit is expiring Friday, but lawmakers made little progress toward the next coronavirus relief deal. On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., pressed for an extension of the weekly enhanced federal unemployment insurance that would slash the benefit from $600 to $200 per week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rejected it.
4. Caterpillar shares rise after better-than-expected results
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar said Friday its cost-cutting measures and prioritized spending helped it hold up better than expected as equipment demand fell in the pandemic. The company posted adjusted per-share earnings of $1.03 on revenues of $10 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of just $9.38 billion for the quarter, according to the consensus from Refinitiv. Shares of Caterpillar, a Dow component, were up more than 1% in premarket trading.
5. Euro zone GDP plunged by a record 12.1%
The euro zone economy contracted by 12.1% in the second quarter, the worst reading since the region began tracking the data in 1995. Its largest economies, including Germany, Italy, France and Spain, contracted by double digits during the period due to strict lockdown measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the U.S., data on Thursday showed gross domestic product plunged by a historic 32.9% in the second quarter. The number was not as bad as feared, however, as economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a 34.7% decline.
