U.S. stock futures ticked down ahead of a busy day of corporate earnings reports and data on factory orders.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged down 0.1% and Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 0.3%. Changes in equity futures don't necessarily predict market moves after the markets open.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.2% in morning trade as gains in real estate and information technology sectors were tempered by the rest of the stock sectors.

Land Securities Group added 2.4% for a two-day winning streak and British Land Co. PLC rose 3%.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.6%. Other stock indexes in Europe were mixed as France's CAC 40 climbed 0.2% and the FTSE 250 gained 0.5%, whereas Germany's DAX slipped 0.1%.

The Swiss franc, the euro and the British pound fell 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.2% respectively against the U.S. dollar.

In commodities, Brent crude was flat at $67.55 a barrel. Gold was down 0.3% to $1,786.80 a troy ounce.

The German 10-year bund yield rose to minus 0.192% and the yield on 10-year gilts declined to 0.837%. 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were up to 1.620% from 1.606%. Yields move inversely to prices.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6%.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-04-21 0354ET