Stocks Little Changed on Earnings, Trump-Powell Feud

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Thursday as traders pored through the latest earnings and weighed the latest in President Donald Trump’s feud with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials settled 73 points, or 0.2%, to 44,386.Futures for the S&P 500 index lost five points, or 0.1%, to 6,298.25.Futures for the NASDAQ poked ahead 0.75 points to 23,077.25.PepsiCo and GE Aerospace traded higher in the premarket after both companies posted better-than-expected earnings. United Airlines also posted an earnings beat, but shares were down 1%.The earnings season is off to a strong start. More than 45 S&P 500 components have reported thus far, with 87% of those exceeding analyst expectations, FactSet data shows.Wall Street is coming off a winning session after Trump denied that he was planning to fire Powell from his position as Fed chief.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index recovered 0.6% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng cooled 0.1%Oil prices picked up 37 cents to $66.75 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices lost $29.10 to $3,330.0 U.S. an ounce.