US futures dip as 2 firms miss expectations

S stock index futures dipped on , indicating the S&P 500 may snap a three-day win streak after GE and Google results fell short of expectations and as investors eyed Greek debt talks for signs of progress. Google shares slumped 7.8 per cent to $589.73 (Dh2,166) in pre-market trading after quarterly profit and revenue for the No 1 internet search engine missed Wall Street expectations on declining search advertising rates. General Electric fell 2.6 per cent to $18.65 after the largest US conglomerate reported roughly flat profit from continuing operations, but revenues missed estimates. Greece and its private bondholders were "converging towards" a long-awaited debt swap deal, a source said, with private bondholders possibly assuming a real loss of 65 per cent to 70 per cent. Hopes are that an agreement would prevent the nation from spiraling into bankruptcy and bring some stability to the debt-strained Eurozone. ‘Not happy news' "We are now debating again how much of a haircut the bondholders of Greece are going to take and that is not happy news," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. A strong outlook from International Business Machines Corp and decent results from Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp signalled that corporate leaders were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending.