Wall Street set to open marginally higher

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - Wall Street was set to open slightly higher on Friday, a day after the Dow ended a nine-session gaining streak and as investors assessed earnings reports from a host of industrial companies including GE.

The S&P 500 and Dow are trading at record highs on upbeat sentiment over second-quarter corporate earnings, with analysts now expecting smaller profit declines and more companies topping those estimates.

However reports from Intel and transport companies sapped some of the momentum on Thursday, while reports overnight and on Friday were also tepid.

Dow component GE's shares fell 2.3 percent to $31.85 premarket after the company reaffirmed its full-year operating forecast.

Honeywell dropped 2.3 percent to $115.85 after lowering its full-year sales forecast, despite a market-beating quarterly profit.

"The market is digesting a very strong post-Brexit rally," said Adam Sarhan, Chief Executive of Sarhan Capital.

"At this stage of the game, it deserves a bullish benefit of the doubt and has the right to just pause as investors assess a slew of earnings."

Dow e-minis were up 25 points, or 0.14 percent at 8:20 a.m. ET (1220 GMT), with 22,403 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 3.5 points, or 0.16 percent, with 151,468 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7.75 points, or 0.17 percent, on volume of 18,593 contracts.

Starbucks declined 1.7 percent to $56.62 after its sales growth fell short of expectations in all major markets.

One of the bright spots was chipmaker AMD, which rose nearly 9.6 percent after its results beat estimates.

Overall, analysts now expect earnings of S&P 500 companies to decline 3.3 percent in the quarter, less than the 5 percent drop estimated at the start of the earnings season.

Of the 103 S&P 500 companies that have reported as of Thursday, 67 percent have beaten estimates, slightly higher than the 63 percent over the whole of a typical quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.

No major data is scheduled to be released on Friday. The U.S. Federal Reserve meets next week and policymakers are expected to decide when they will next raise interest rates.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)