Wall Street set to open flat on earnings, Greece

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open little changed on Friday as investors weighed strong earnings against Greece's move to trigger an aid package that could become the largest state bailout ever attempted.

Setting the stage for another day of earnings, U.S.-traded shares of Ericsson rose nearly 7 percent to $12.04 despite weak quarterly results as investors noted the mobile telecom gearmaker's falling costs and prospects for a recovery.

Debt-stricken Greece appealed to its European partners and the International Monetary Fund for emergency loans on Friday, yielding to overwhelming market pressure to set in motion the first financial rescue of a member of the euro zone.

Investors feared the bailout would only provide a short-term solution to Greece's debt crisis.

Meanwhile, new orders for long-lasting U.S. goods unexpectedly dropped in March as civilian aircraft bookings plunged, but they posted the largest gain in more than two years after excluding transportation, the government said.

"There's an unexpected decline in durable good orders and news on Greece gets more and more complicated. Combine that with an extended market, and it's surprising it is holding," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.

"What's supporting (the market) is an excellent earnings season."

S&P 500 futures rose 3.3 points and were slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 10 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 7 points.

Schlumberger Ltd shares gained 2.4 percent to $69.80 in premarket trading after the world's largest oilfield services provider reported a 28 percent drop in profit, just beating the Wall Street view, and said the outlook outside North America improved.

Nasdaq futures got a boost from Ericsson, which said sales fell 9 percent year-on-year, the same pace as rival Nokia Siemens Networks.

Microsoft Corp posted a 35 percent jump in quarterly profit that beat estimates on Thursday on strong sales of its Windows 7 software, but the stock fell 1.2 percent to $31.02 in premarket trading as it failed to meet heightened expectations.

Amazon.com Inc slid 4.2 percent to $143.85 after the company forecast a lower-than-expected profit for its second quarter, even as it reported a quarterly profit that topped estimates.

American Express Co said Thursday net income more than doubled, while credit card issuer Capital One Financial Corp posted stronger-than-expected profit after setting aside less money to cover credit losses.

American Express shares gained 2.4 percent to $47.89 and Capital One jumped 5.3 percent to $47.97.

At 10 a.m. EDT, the Commerce Department will report new home sales data for March. Economists forecast a total of 330,000 annualized units, compared with 308,000 units in February.

U.S. stocks rebounded Thursday as strong quarterly profits from consumer bellwethers like Starbucks Corp outweighed worries about Greece's shaky finances.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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