07:18 AM EDT, 10/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were tracking in the red before the opening bell Thursday following the latest financial results of Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta Platforms ( META ) , while traders await the personal income and outlays report for September.

Standard & Poor's 500 declined 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.5% and the Nasdaq was off 1.1% in premarket activity. The majority of Asian exchanges were pointing lower, while European bourses were moving down.

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) shares fell nearly 4% pre-bell despite the technology giant reporting stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. Meta's stock slipped 3.7% as the Facebook parent reported better-than-expected third-quarter results but said it continues to expect a significant increase in expenses. Starbucks ( SBUX ) edged 0.5% higher as the company reported its latest quarterly results.

The personal income report is scheduled for an 8:30 am ET release and includes the personal consumption expenditure core price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric. Thursday's economic calendar also has the Challenger Job-Cut Report for October at 7:30 am, followed by the weekly jobless claims bulletin and the third-quarter employment cost index report at 8:30 am.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index data for the current month is out at 9:45 am, while the weekly EIA domestic natural-gas supplies report posts at 10:30 am. The farm prices report for September is due at 3 pm.

Mastercard ( MA ) , Merck ( MRK ) , Uber Technologies ( UBER ) , Comcast ( CMCSA ) , Anheuser-Busch Inbev ( BUD ) , Cigna ( CI ) , Li Auto ( LI ) , Stellantis ( STLA ) , Estee Lauder ( EL ) , Kellanova ( K ) and Roblox ( RBLX ) report their quarterly earnings before the bell, among others. E-commerce giant Amazon.com ( AMZN ) , iPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ) and chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) report their financials after the markets close.

Before the opening bell, bitcoin increased 0.5% to $72,303, West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 0.4% to $68.91 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries inclined 1.2 basis points to 4.28% and gold moved down 0.5% to $2,788 an ounce.