Earnings misses hit Wall Street

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Weak earnings from Caterpillar and Google sent stock futures lower Friday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 14,000 for the first time ever.

At 8:10 a.m. ET, futures hit new lows, with a comparison to fair value pointing to declines after the opening bell.

Stocks rallied Thursday, pushing the Dow, a blue-chip barometer that tracks 30 large companies, to its highest finish ever.

But disappointing earnings from economically sensitive firm Caterpillar (Charts, Fortune 500) could rein in the bulls. The heavy equipment maker said its net profit fell 21 percent and posted earnings of $1.24 a share, versus estimates for $1.49 a share. Caterpillar shares tumbled 5 percent in premarket trading.

The weak results overshadowed upbeat earnings from financial services giant Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500), which reported a rise in quarterly profit early Friday. The bank said net income jumped to $6.23 billion, or $1.24 a share. That exceeded estimates for earnings of $1.13 a share.

Tech shares are also likely to come under pressure after Google and Ericsson both missed market forecasts for quarterly earnings.

Google (Charts, Fortune 500) reported earnings late Thursday that missed Wall Street's estimates even as its quarterly sales soared. The earnings miss - only the second since the Internet search firm went public in 2004 - rattled investors who have grown accustomed to solid results from the company. Shares sank 7 percent in premarket trading.

Swedish firm Ericsson, the biggest maker of cell phone network equipment, also reported earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations early on Friday.

Elsewhere, chipmaker AMD (Charts, Fortune 500) posted a jump in quarterly sales, although it reported a loss as its ongoing price war with Intel (Charts, Fortune 500) pressured its bottom line.

Rival Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) said its net income and revenue rose during the quarter. Strong sales of its Vista operating system helped offset charges related to the company's Xbox game console.

Overseas markets took cues from Wall Street's celebration. Major Asian markets finished the session higher. European stocks opened higher but turned lower in midday trading.

Oil prices were lower, with U.S. light crude for August delivery down 5 cents to $75.87 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.98 percent from 5.01 percent late Thursday.

The dollar gained slightly against the euro and weakened against the yen.