* Futures point to lower open
* GE, Bank of America earnings disappoint
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to drop at
the open on Friday after disappointing quarterly results from
Dow components General Electric Co <GE.N> and Bank of America
Corp <BAC.N> dragged stock futures lower.
GE's weaker-than-expected revenue and Bank of America's
loss show U.S. businesses and consumers continue to struggle as
the economy slowly recovers from the worst recession in
decades.
The results are also a reality check for investors wowed by
some strong corporate earnings earlier in the week.
To see GE's revenue down so much "really says something
about the economy, and really has to make you question what
kind of recovery is taking place here," said Paul Mendelsohn,
chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in
Charlotte, Vermont.
"It's not a good morning to say the least," he said.
Bank of America's loss stemmed from consumer credit losses,
and it blamed "continued weakness in the U.S. and global
economies and stress on the consumer." GE, although beating
earnings estimates, reported-lower than-expected revenue as
sales fell across all its diverse businesses. For more,
see[] and []
Bank of America's shares fell 5 percent to $17.22, and GE
dropped 3 percent to $16.28 in premarket trade.
"Although it is still very early into earnings season, we're
seeing that the positive momentum is rapidly diminishing," said
Hans-Juergen Delp, chief strategist at Commerzbank in
Frankfurt.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> were down 5.2 points and were below
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> were down
26 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> fell 4.50 points.
Economic data due later in the day includes the
Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers preliminary
sentiment index for October, expected to stay even with late
September's reading of 73.5.
Also due is a measure of U.S. industrial production in
September, expected to rise 0.2 percent, according to a
forecast from a poll of economists by Reuters.
Oil futures headed lower, back toward $77 per barrel, a day
after hitting a one-year high that helped drive a late rally in
stocks that pushed indexes into positive territory.
Google Inc <GOOG.O> reported robust results that beat
expectations late on Thursday, soothing concerns over the
health of the technology sector. Google's stock rose 3 percent
in premarket trade.
International Business Machines Corp also <IBM.N> sounded
an optimistic note as it forecast a return to revenue growth in
the fourth-quarter, but investors drove the stock down 4
percent in premarket trade to $122.90.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
