US STOCKS-Futures tick lower on mixed earnings reports

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* Futures down: Dow 0.21%, S&P 0.12%, Nasdaq 0.06%

By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on
Tuesday as investors assessed a mixed batch of earnings reports,
including from Google parent Alphabet and big drugmakers Merck
and Pfizer.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed at a record high on Monday,
while the Nasdaq ended the session less than 5 points below its
closing high in July on hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal and a
widely expected interest rate cut.
Merck & Co Inc MRK.N rose 1.9% in premarket trading after
it beat quarterly profit estimates, while Pfizer Inc PFE.N
gained 2.9% as it raised its 2019 earnings forecast.
Shares of Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , however, dropped 1.5% as
the web search leader's quarterly profit missed estimates due to
higher costs. Other marquee names reporting this week include tech
heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O as well
as oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N .
Third-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies have largely
been better than expected, with over 78% of the 204 companies
that have reported so far surpassing profit expectations,
according to Refinitiv data.
Investors will keep a close watch on the two-day Federal
Reserve meeting, where the central bank is expected to cut
interest rates by a quarter percentage point for the third time
this year. The Fed will announce its policy decision on
Wednesday.
At 7:14 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 56 points,
or 0.21%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 3.75 points, or
0.12% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 5.25 points, or
0.06%.
Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O dropped 15.5% as the vegan burger
maker said it would need to offer more store discounts amid
rising competition, overshadowing its first ever quarterly net
profit and full-year sales forecast raise. Shares of GrubHub Inc GRUB.N plunged 35% after the online
food delivery company warned of slowing growth as customers
opted to choose from a growing pool of rival providers to get
better deals. On the economic front, data at 10:00 a.m. ET is expected to
show reading on U.S. consumer confidence index rose to 128 in
October from 125.1 in September.