09:01 AM EDT, 04/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were in red territory before Thursday's opening bell as quarterly results from technology sector heavyweight Meta Platforms ( META ) weighed on investor sentiment.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.9%, S&P 500 futures dropped 1%, and Nasdaq futures were down 1.3%.
Late Wednesday, Meta Platforms ( META ) reported Q1 earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates but raised its total spending guidance for 2024.
Oil prices gained, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate crude both up around 0.2%, after official data showed a 6.4 million-barrel weekly decline in US crude stockpiles.
Q1 gross domestic product growth, released at 8:30 am ET, slowed to a 1.6% annualized rate versus Q4 growth of 3.4% and estimates for a 2.5% increase.
International trade in goods deficit, also released at 8:30 am ET, widened to $91.8 billion in March from $90.3 billion previously, compared with estimates for a $91 billion gap. New unemployment claims came in at 207,000 in the week ended April 20 compared with the 212,000 claims in the preceding week and estimates for 215,000.
Forecasters see the Pending Home Sales Index, slated for 10 am, rising by 0.3% in March after February's 1.6% increase.
In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 2.2% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.5% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.3% higher. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, and Germany's DAX index fell 0.8% in Europe's early afternoon session.
In equities, shares of Meta Platforms ( META ) were down more than 15% pre-bell. IBM ( IBM ) shares fell more than 9% after the company agreed to buy HashiCorp in a $6.4 billion deal. Caterpillar ( CAT ) shares retreated nearly 7% after posting lower Q1 revenue.
On the winning side, Honeywell ( HON ) shares rose more than 1% after the company posted higher Q1 adjusted profit and revenue. Teradyne ( TER ) shares increased 5% after posting Q1 results that topped analysts' estimates.