Futures drop as Boeing, GM results disappoint

[July 25, 2018]   By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - Disappointing reports from Boeing and General Motors pushed U.S. stock index futures lower on Wednesday, ahead of a closely watched meeting between President Trump and European Union officials on trade.

Shares of Boeing <BA.N>, which is the single largest U.S. exporter to China, fell 3 percent in premarket trading after the planemaker's results.

General Motors <GM.N> fell 5.5 percent after the automaker cut its 2018 earnings forecast, citing rising steel and aluminum costs due to U.S. tariffs.

Air conditioner maker Ingersoll-Rand <IR.N> said tariffs hurt its margins, while Indian motorcycle-maker Polaris Industries <PII.N> said it would have to absorb additional tariff and related commodity cost increases this year.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to meet Trump for trade talks later in the day, with trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom saying that the European Union is preparing to slap tariffs on $20 billion of U.S. goods if Trump raises tariffs on cars imported from the bloc.

Coca-Cola <KO.N> and United Parcel Service <UPS.N> dipped after reporting quarterly results.

At 7:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 107 points, or 0.42 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 6.5 points, or 0.23 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 11.25 points, or 0.15 percent.

The earnings season so far has been strong enough to nudge the benchmark S&P 500 index <.SPX> to within 2 percent of its all-time high.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

But the estimate for profit growth of S&P companies in the second quarter have slipped – to 20.8 percent from 21.7 percent on July 23. But remains higher than the 20.7 estimate as of July 1, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

AT&T <T.N> fell 1.2 percent after adding more wireless subscribers than expected but missing on quarterly revenue estimates.

NXP Semiconductors <NXPI.O> slipped 3.9 percent as it awaits Chinese approval for its acquisition by Qualcomm <QCOM.O> ahead of a deadline later in the day. Qualcomm declined 0.4 percent, in low volumes.

Facebook <FB.O> was flat ahead of its results, which are due after markets close.

On the macro front, a report from the Commerce Department at 10 a.m. ET will likely show that new home sales fell 2.8 percent to a rate of 670,000 units in June.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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