DOW and S&P under pressure, Microsoft and Facebook launch NASDAQ to new highs

Dow and S&P futures were pressured by a steep fall in industrial company 3M's shares on Thursday, while upbeat results from high-flying companies Facebook and Microsoft supported Nasdaq futures.

Investors are assessing earnings reports from some of the biggest U.S. companies this week to see if the strong run-up in market since the start of the year is justified as the main Wall Street indexes hover below all-time highs.

3M (NYSE:MMM) Co's shares tumbled 9.1% in premarket trading after the company said it would lay off 2,000 workers globally as it reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its 2019 earnings forecast.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 5% after the company beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly results and predicted continued growth for its cloud computing business.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) jumped 8.4% after the social media giant's quarterly profit blew past Wall Street's profit estimates and the company set aside $3 billion to cover a settlement with U.S. regulators.

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) and Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co are among the big names set to report results after the bell.

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