U.S. Markets to Open Mixed Following Apple Earnings Miss

U.S. stock futures are mixed ahead of the opening bell. Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 futures were about 0.5% higher, while Nasdaq futures were lower by about the same amount.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) both offered disappointing earnings reports Tuesday, and both are down in premarket trading today. Apple profit and sales fell short of analysts’ projections for only the second time since 2003. Netflix raised doubts about whether it can meet its user growth targets this year.

Ford (NYSE: F), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) are scheduled to post earnings this morning.

Economists expect that demand for new U.S. homes probably climbed in June to the highest level in two years.

And Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will testify before the House Financial Services Committee this morning.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up about 0.2%, the DAX in Germany added 0.5% and France’s CAC 40 is 0.7% higher.

German business confidence fell more than economists forecast in July, the third-straight decline and the lowest reading since March 2010.

A report showed the U.K. economy shrank the most in three years last quarter, despite a rally by auto makers.

The Shanghai Composite ended lower by 0.5%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.1% and Japan’s Nikkei dropped by 1.4%.

Technology stocks in Asia were dragged down by Apple’s disappointing earnings.