At the end of a busy week for earnings, US pre-market equity index futures traded mostly lower ahead of the New York open, alongside their European and Asian counterparts, as investors counted down to the release of first-quarter US growth data whilst preparing for another deluge of corporate releases.

The first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figure, scheduled for release at 8:30am EST, will likely set the tone for today’s session as market participants now look to seek a reason to reignite the 2019 rally in risk assets. Economists surveyed by FactSet expect GDP to have risen 2% during Q1 2019.

These developments come after Thursday’s session, where US stocks finished mixed as investors digested through a surge of earnings. The benchmark S&P 500 index struggled for direction for most of the session and appropriately ended flat, -0.06%. Healthcare (+1.03%) and Communication Services (+0.70%) were amongst the strongest sectors whose advances were offset by declines in Industrial (-2.01%) and Material (-1.27%) stocks.

Meanwhile, disappointing performance from 3M (MMM: -12.95%) weighted on the Dow which saw its price retreat -0.52%, while contrary to general market direction, the Nasdaq Composite managed to close at a fresh all-time high, ending +0.41% higher.

In today’s economic calendar, aside from GDP figures, Friday also includes; Consumer Expectations and Sentiment data for April at 10am EST.

In today’s corporate news; Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), American Airlines Group (AAL), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), IMAX (IMAX) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) are amongst the major companies scheduled to report their earnings today.

TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES

IPO: Uber Aims for $84 Billion Valuation in Year’s Largest IPO. (Bloomberg) Uber Technologies is seeking to raise as much as $9 billion in an initial public offering that could give the ride-hailing giant a market valuation of as much as $84 billion.

Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrencies shed $10 billion in an hour on worries over ‘stablecoin’ tether. (CNBC) Cryptocurrencies fell amid reignited regulatory worries and questions around the legitimacy of so-called “stablecoin” tether.

ECONOMIC CALENDAR Today’s Economical Announcements.

08:30AM – ★★★ – GDP (QoQ) (Q1) (Previous: 2.2%) 10:00AM – ★★☆ – Michigan Consumer Expect. (Apr) (Previous: 85.8) 10:00AM – ★★☆ – Michigan Consumer Senti. (Apr) (Previous: 96.9)

STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.

Mattel (MAT): [EARNINGS] Reported a loss of 44 cents a share on revenue of $689 million. The company said demand for its Barbie dolls, along with toys based on movies like and “Toy Story” boosted the Mattel’s results.

Amazon (AMZN): [EARNINGS] Reported earnings per share that easily beat analysts’ expectations. Revenue came in just above expectations, however, as growth slows to its lowest level since the first quarter of 2015.

Ford Motor (F): [EARNINGS] Posted earnings per share of 44 cents on revenue of $37.24 billion. Ford’s results were boosted by strong demand for its pickup trucks and SUVs in North America.

Intel (INTC): [EARNINGS] Reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but those numbers were overshadowed by a weak revenue forecast for 2019. Intel said it expect sales to total $69 billion for 2019, below an estimate of $71.05 billion. Intel shares fell more than 7% before the bell.

Qorvo (QRVO): [DOWNGRADE] Downgraded to “sector weight” from “overweight” at KeyBanc Capital Markets, with an analyst noting: “Our recent supply chain checks indicated that the situation has changed and that AVGO is likely to regain 100% market share of the mid/high-band PAD in the 2019 iPhone.”

Western Digital (WDC): [DOWNGRADE] Baird downgraded the chipmaker’s shares to “underperform” amid concerns over an increasing “disconnect between significant stock appreciation YTD and a continued deterioration in NAND flash fundamentals.” The firm also cut its price target on Western Digital to $40 a share from $50 a share.

American Airlines (AAL): [EARNINGS] Reported mixed quarterly results, with its earnings per share topping estimates while revenue missed. American Airlines also said it took a $350 million pretax hit due to the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max jet. The company also hiked its fuel cost guidance for the year, citing higher oil prices.FedEx (FDX): [DOWNGRADE] UBS downgraded FedEx to “sell” from “neutral,” citing worries that the company’s challenges in its Ground & Express businesses “may last longer” than expected.

Starbucks (SBUX): [EARNINGS] Posted quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations and hiked its full-year outlook. The company highlighted strong sales in China and the US, but Starbucks shares dipped 0.4% as its quarterly revenue numbers disappointed analysts.

MOMENTUM STOCKS

GAINERS: AAN, CVI, CINF, HSY DECLINERS: VC, XLNX, CRC, WWE, MMM, TRN, BC, PTC, FCX, IRM

TODAY’S IPOs

Act II Global Acquisition (ACTTU) (Price: 10) (Est. Vol: $250.0M)