NEW YORK, Feb 3 ― US stock index futures dropped on Friday after disappointing results from megacap growth companies including Apple and Amazon, while investors awaited the January jobs report for more clues on future rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
Apple forecast another revenue decline at the start of the year, Amazon warned that its operating profit could fall to zero in the current quarter, and Google parent Alphabet missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter results. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 posted strong gains yesterday and touched near five-month highs, while the Dow slipped, dragged down by declines in some big healthcare stocks.
The unemployment rate is expected to tick higher to 3.6 per cent in January, from 3.5 per cent in December.