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Futures down: Dow 0.57%, S&P 500 0.96%, Nasdaq 1.58%

Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. index futures fell sharply on

Friday following downbeat forecasts from Amazon ( AMZN ) and Intel ( INTC ), with

investors awaiting a crucial jobs report for further clues on

the labor market amid lingering concerns over an economic

slowdown.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) slumped 8% in premarket trading after

the company reported slowing online sales growth in the second

quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper

options for purchases.

Apple ( AAPL ) slipped 0.8% amid a broader weakness in

megacap stocks, even as it posted better-than-expected

third-quarter iPhone sales and forecast more gains betting on AI

to attract buyers.

Other megacaps such as Microsoft ( MSFT ), Tesla

and Alphabet dropped more than 1% each. Meta

edged 0.8% lower after soaring on Thursday following upbeat

results.

At 8:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 232 points,

or 0.57%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 52.5 points, or

0.96%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 301.25 points,

or 1.58%.

Concerns around the dominance of the "Magnificent Seven"

group of stocks on Wall Street persist as earnings from most of

these Big Tech companies have failed to enthuse investors,

underscoring the narrative of their valuations being

overstretched.

Wall Street's "fear gauge" breached the long-term

average level of 20 points for the first time since mid April.

Among other major earnings, Intel ( INTC ) tumbled 21% after

forecasting third-quarter revenue below estimates and suspending

its dividend starting in the fourth quarter.

Other chip stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Qualcomm ( QCOM )

, Broadcom ( AVGO ), Micron Technology ( MU ) and Arm

Holdings dropped between 2% and 5.4%, and were set to

extend losses from Thursday.

All the major three indexes kicked off August with steep

declines on Thursday after a round of economic data spurred

fears of a faster-than-expected economic slowdown with the U.S.

Federal Reserve maintaining a restrictive monetary policy.

The benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the

blue-chip Dow are on track to log losses for the week that had

the Fed opening the door to a September interest rate cut, Big

Tech earnings and a raft of economic data.

All eyes are on the nonfarm payrolls reading at 8:30 a.m. ET

for further signs that the U.S. labor market is easing. The data

is expected to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 jobs

in July, according to LSEG, after advancing by 206,000 jobs in

June.

Snap lost 18% after forecasting current-quarter

results below expectations, while payments firm Block

climbed 6% after raising its forecast for annual adjusted core

earnings and unveiling a $3 billion buyback plan.

Software company Cloudflare ( NET ) jumped 7% after raising

its annual results forecast.

Of the 342 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings for

the quarter, 79.2% beat expectations, according to LSEG data.