VENTURE CAPITAL POST

U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track to trim its weekly advance, following disappointing earnings from Amazon and as the first diagnosed case of Ebola in New York City raised concerns about the spread of the virus.

A measure of global equity markets advanced on Tuesday as technology earnings lifted U.S. shares and the prospect of European Central Bank corporate bond purchases boosted European stocks, while weighing on safe-haven U.S. Treasuries prices.

Asian stocks started the week on a brighter note on Monday, after solid U.S. data and earnings calmed tumult in global financial markets and reassured investors worried about the health of the world economy.

It is a tossup whether the market found a bottom this week, but bulls could find some support as corporations, mostly on the sidelines as the market tumbled, step up their stock purchases in the coming weeks.

Stocks on Wall Street tumbled in late selling on Monday as the technical picture soured for the S&P 500, while the U.S. dollar posted its worst day in a year after comments from Federal Reserve officials hinted at delays in expected interest rate hikes.

The S&P 500 on Thursday posted its largest percentage decline in six months on concerns about the strength of the global economy and its effect on corporate earnings.

The suddenly unstoppable U.S. dollar is posing a triple threat to American companies' profits: driving up the costs of doing business overseas, suppressing the value of non-U.S. sales and, perhaps most worryingly, signaling weak international demand.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to very slight gains at the open on Tuesday, with investors finding few reasons to buy after a rally in the previous session that took the S&P 500 index above 2,000 for the first time.

The U.S. S&P 500 stock .SPX index broke through the landmark 2,000 level on Monday, marking a six year rally which has benefitted many Americans from Wall Street to Main Street.

U.S. stocks have been on a roll of late, with the S&P 500 hitting the latest in a series of records on Thursday, and investors expect the index's momentum to soon carry it to - if not far past - the 2,000 milestone.

Volatility spiked on Thursday after the tragedy of a downed civilian jetliner in Ukraine and the mounting death toll in Gaza and Israel interrupted the summer trading slumber.

Tim Cook, incumbent chief executive of Apple Inc, has received $4.25 million in salary and bonus for the fiscal year 2013. A proxy filing by Apple also revealed that the tech giant's chief executive did not receive stock-based compensation for the last two fiscal years.

U.S. fund managers increased their holdings of stocks in November, riding a global stock market rally that began when the Federal Reserve put off reducing its monetary stimulus.

The market has quieted a day before the US Thanksgiving, but retail stocks Barnes & Noble, Crocs, and Rite Aid are still making waves all over the world.

J.C. Penney was dropped from the Standard & Poor's 500 index after losing more than half of its market value this year alone. Its downward spiral began during a failed transformation under former CEO Ron Johnson, who was fired last April after 17 months in the job.