By Mark DeCambre and Chris Matthews, MarketWatch

UnitedHealth's stock gains 1.3% in premarket after topping second-quarter estimates

U.S. stock futures on Thursday were headed for a third consecutive loss, moving further away from record territory as investors wade through earnings and developments on international trade.

How are the major benchmarks performing?

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.1%, at 27,197, those for the S&P 500 index slipped 1.25 points, or less than 0.1%, at 2,983.75, while Nasdaq-100 futures skidded 9.75 points, or 0.1%, at 7,875.25.

On Wednesday, the Dow ended down 115.78 points at 27,219.85, a decline of 0.4%, the S&P 500 ) lost 19.62 points, or 0.7%, to 2,984.42, losing purchase at the closely watched round-number level at 3,000. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 37.59 points to 8,185.21, a drop of 0.5%.

All three main benchmarks were seen declining for a third straight session, with the S&P 500 set for its longest slump since the four-session drop ended June 26, according to FactSet data.

Separately, the Dow Transportation Average fell 3.6%, its biggest one day fall since May, to 10,403.

What's driving the market?

Market participants were focused on reports of a lack of progress toward a U.S.-China trade deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that talks have stalled on the back of negotiations centered on intellectual property protections Huawei Technologies Co.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC, on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in France said that trade talks with China are continuing apace. "Don't believe everything you believe in the press," he said. Mnuchin said that he and top trade official Robert Lighthizer are set to engage in fresh talks with his counterparts in China soon.

"We want to get a good deal, we will only enter a deal if it's a good deal," he said. "We want to be able to compete fairly," the Treasury Secretary said, but he declined to discuss the specifics of talks.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda said in a Thursday research note that "the majority of early corporate profit reports are coming in better than expected. However, he said "US stock-index futures are being weighed down on faltering trade talks between the US and China."

Meanwhile, Netflix Inc.'s (NFLX) downbeat subscription results also weakened sentiment somewhat, after the streaming video giant said Wednesday evening that it lost 126,000 subscribers in the U.S. in the second quarter, the first such loss since 2011 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-stock-drops-more-than-10-as-earnings-show-huge-drop-in-new-subscribers-2019-07-17). Meanwhile, shares of Dow component UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) were providing a modest lift to blue chips after reporting better than expected earnings and raising its full-year outlook.

Investors are watching for economic data, including a report on jobless claims and a reading of regional business sentiment from the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey due to be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Which stocks are in focus?

UnitedHealth shares (UNH) rose 0.9% before the bell Thursday, after the health-care manager said (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unitedhealth-lifts-2019-profit-forecast-after-topping-second-quarter-results-2019-07-18) it was lifting its 2019 profit outlook after reporting second-quarter earnings of $3.29 billion, or $3.42 a share, an increase from $2.92 billion.

Morgan Stanley(MS) shares rose fell 0.8% in premarket trade, after the bank reported second-quarter revenue and sales in the second quarter that fell less than analysts had expected.

Shares of Alcoa Corp. (AA) fell 4.2% in premarket action, after the aluminum producer reported a $402 million loss (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alcoa-posts-narrower-than-expected-q2-loss-2019-07-17) in the second quarter, down from a $10 million gain in the year-ago period, while lowering its guidance for aluminum demand growth in 2019 due to trade tensions and macroeconomic headwinds.

Honeywell International Inc. (HON) stock fell 0.3% before the bell, after the industrial conglomerate reported second-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/honeywells-stock-rises-after-earnings-beat-and-upbeat-guidance-while-sales-fell-shy-2019-07-18) that modestly beat expectations, but revenue that fell shy.

How are other markets trading?

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell about one basis point to 2.054%.

In Asia, stocks closed lower, with the China CSI 300 shedding 1%, Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbling 2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index retreating 0.5%. In Europe, stocks were trading flat, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down less than 0.1%.

In commodities markets, the price of oil rose 0.6% to $57.09 per barrel, while as trading flat at $1,423 per ounce. The U.S. dollar , meanwhile, edged 0.1% lower.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2019 08:23 ET (12:23 GMT)