Futures drop after dismal Amazon, Intel forecasts; jobs data in focus
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Amazon slides after posting revenue forecasts below estimates
Intel tumbles on downbeat Q3 revenue forecast
Chevron down after Q2 profit miss
Block rises after annual forecast uplift
Futures down: Dow 0.88%, S&P 500 1.03%, Nasdaq 1.52%
Updated at 6:56 a.m. ET/1056 GMT
By Ankika Biswas and Shubham Batra
Aug 2 (Reuters) - Futures fell sharply on Friday afterAmazon and Intel presented downbeat forecasts asconcerns over the health of the U.S. economy lingered, while investors awaited a crucial jobs report for clues on the labor market.
Amazon.com AMZN.O slumped 8.2% in premarket trading after the company reported slowing online sales growth in the second quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper purchase options.
Intel INTC.O tumbled 20.5%, set for its biggestfall in 24 years after forecasting third-quarter revenue below estimates and suspending its dividend, starting in the fourth quarter.
Other chip stocks such as Nvidia NVDA.O, Qualcomm QCOM.O, Broadcom AVGO.O, Micron Technology MU.O and Arm Holdings ARM.O dropped between 0.6% and 4.0% and were set to extend Thursday's losses.
Apple AAPL.O inched 0.9% higher 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.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O dropped 1.8% each. Meta META.O edged 0.5% lower after soaring on Thursday after upbeatresults.
Concerns around the dominance of the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks persist as earnings from most of these Big Tech companies have failed to enthuse investors, underscoring the narrative of their valuations being inflated.
Wall Street's "fear gauge" .VIX breached the long-term average level of 20 points for the first time since mid April.
All eyes will be 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.
At 6:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 358 points, or 0.88%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 56.5 points, or 1.03%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 290 points, or 1.52%.
The Nasdaq 100 futures NQcv1 were trading 10% below its record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite .IXIC ended nearly 8% below its own all-time closing level in July.
All the three majorindexes 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.
"Thursday's (market) move appeared to reflect growing concerns about the U.S. economy, and in particular about the labor market," said Ben Snider, equity strategist at Goldman Sachs.
"Although, it looked more like a recalibration of growth expectations than an indication of extreme economic pessimism."
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX, the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC and the blue-chip Dow .DJI are on track to log losses for the week in whichthe Fed opened the door to a September interest-rate cut.
Among other movers, Snap SNAP.N lost 17.3% after forecasting current-quarter results below expectations, while payments firm Block SQ.N climbed 4.4% after raising its forecast for annual adjusted core earnings and unveiling a $3 billion buyback plan.
Chevron Corp CVX.N slid 0.3% after the oilgiant missed estimates for second-quarter profit, hurt by weak refining margins, while Exxon Mobil XOM.N rose 1.3% after posting a better-than-expected $9.2 billion second-quarter profit.
Of the 342 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings for the quarter, 79.2% beat expectations, according to LSEG data.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Pooja Desai
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