US STOCKS-Futures muted after mixed bag of earnings

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* Futures: Dow up 0.21%, S&P flat, Nasdaq down 0.33%

By Amy Caren Daniel
July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures struggled for
direction on Thursday as a clutch of earnings reports again
pointed to a slowing global economy, while holding up in the
face of already reduced expectations.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O tumbled 12.3% and pressured Nasdaq
futures NQcv1 , after the electric carmaker pushed back its
profit timeline once again after missing its quarterly financial
targets. On the other hand, 3M Co MMM.N rose 4.5% after the
manufacturing conglomerate reiterated its full-year earnings
forecast despite slowing growth in high-profile markets such as
China. Facebook gained 1% after the social media giant reported
quarterly revenue that beat estimates, but said new rules and
product changes aimed at protecting user privacy would slow its
revenue growth into next year. Two weeks into the second-quarter earnings season, about 77%
of the 138 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have
topped earnings estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Overall earnings, however, are now expected to fall 0.1%,
compared with a prior estimate of a rise of about 1%.
Hopes that major central banks would take monetary measures
to impede the impact of a protracted U.S.-China trade war has
helped Wall Street's main indexes hit record highs this month.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit an all-time high once again on
Wednesday after Texas Instruments hinted that a global slowdown
in microchip demand would not be as long as feared, which
countered bleak earnings from bellwether companies Boeing and
Caterpillar.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is all but certain to ease
policy further on Thursday and set the path for the Federal
Reserve when it meets next week, but the biggest question is
whether the ECB staggers its moves over several months or opts
for a big bang. At 6:59 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 57 points, or
0.21%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 1.25 points, or 0.04%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 26.75 points, or 0.33%.
Ford Motor Co F.N dropped 4.6% after the automaker
reported a lower-than-expected profit, weighed down by charges
to restructure its units in Europe and South America, and gave a
disappointing full-year earnings forecast.