Futures mixed as earnings season rolls on

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stock futures were mixed Wednesday as a slackening pace for orders of long-lasting goods dampened strong corporate earnings.

After a big beat by Apple late Tuesday, Sprint Nextel, Northrop Grumman, Procter & Gamble and Ford are doing the same Wednesday.

Dow Jones industrial futures fell 7 points to 14,651. The broader S&P futures lost 1.1 points to 1,572.50. Nasdaq futures fell 3.25 points to 2,819.75.

Futures had pointed solidly higher until the Commerce Department reported that durable goods declined 5.7 percent in March, after a 4.3 percent gain the previous month.

A decline was expected, but it was larger than most economists had expected.

However, so-called capital goods, which include machinery and equipment, rose 0.2 percent.

Capital goods orders get a lot of attention from economists because they strip out volatile defense and transportation orders and are a good measure of upcoming plans to expand by companies.

Earnings will continue to roll out this week, with Zynga posting after the bell. For the remainder of the week, earnings are expected from Dow Chemical, Southwest Airlines, UPS, Exxon Mobil and Burger King.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-mixed-earnings-season-rolls-130524241--finance.html

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