US STOCKS-Strong Alphabet, Intel earnings drive futures higher

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* Futures up: Dow 0.32%, S&P 0.33%, Nasdaq 0.46%

By Amy Caren Daniel
July 26 (Reuters) - Robust earnings from Google-owner
Alphabet and Intel lifted U.S. stock index futures on Friday, as
investors await data that is widely expected to show that the
domestic economy grew at its slowest pace in over two years in
the second quarter.
The GDP data will show the extent of the impact of the
U.S.-China trade war on the economy and is expected to feed into
the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. Hopes that the Fed will cut rates by at least 25 basis
points at its policy meeting at the end of this month have
powered a solid run in stocks this month, lifting the main
indexes to record highs.
"We find ourselves in a position where traders seem to want
bad news - it's like bad news is a good news scenario as long as
the data is not devastating," said Craig Erlam, senior market
analyst at Oanda in London.
"Traders want that sweet spot which is the data is weak
enough to encourage central banks to act but not so weak that it
actually is problematic."
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O rose 8.6% after the company reported
quarterly results that beat estimates and eased investors'
concerns about growth challenges facing its Google advertising
business. Fellow FAANG member Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O fell 1.3% after
the online retailer reported its first profit miss in two years
and said income would slump in the current quarter, as it ramps
up spending on one-day delivery. The S&P 500 posted its first loss of the week on Wednesday
after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi adopted a
less dovish tone than investors had anticipated, even though he
all but pledged to ease policy further. At 6:49 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 86 points, or
0.32%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 10 points, or 0.33% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 36.75 points, or 0.46%.
Two weeks into the second-quarter earnings season, about 75%
of the 185 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have
topped profit estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Intel Corp INTC.O gained 4.9% after the chipmaker gave an
upbeat current-quarter forecast and raised its full-year revenue
guidance, allaying concerns about a global chip slowdown and
curbs on U.S. sales to China's Huawei Technologies Co HWT.UL .
The Commerce Department will publish its second-quarter
gross domestic product (GDP) report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET
(1230 GMT).