* Amazon falls as sales growth slows
* Pinterest sinks on saying U.S. user growth stalling
* U.S. consumer spending rises in June, inflation increases
* Futures off: Dow 0.27%, S&P 0.63%, Nasdaq 1.13% (Adds comments; updates prices)
July 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street’s main indexes were set to fall on Friday following a glum quarterly earnings report from Amazon.com, while data showing a strong rise in June consumer spending reinforced optimism about a steady economic rebound.
Amazon.com Inc tumbled 6.9% in premarket trading after the company said sales growth would slow in the next few quarters as customers ventured more outside the home.
Shares of other technology behemoths, including Netflix Inc , Google-parent Alphabet Inc, and Facebook Inc , which benefited last year from people staying indoors due to COVID-19 restrictions, fell between 0.4% and 1.1%.
“Expectations across the board were quite high for corporate earnings and the reason we are seeing some of the shares drop despite positive results is because people expect exponential growth, which to be honest is too high to expect,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.
Hopes of a steady post-pandemic rebound in the U.S. economy have lifted Wall Street’s main indexes to record highs and put the benchmark S&P 500 on course for its sixth straight monthly gain, but the rapid spread of the Delta variant and rising inflation have kept sentiment in check.
Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in June, but part of the increase reflected higher prices, with annual inflation accelerating further above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“People were obviously worried last night with Amazon missing on the top line (estimates), but the spending is still there, it has just transferred from spending online to more experiential services,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York.
“It shows that consumers are spending their money and not hoarding it as they would do if they were worried about economic prospects.”
Earlier this week, the Fed reiterated its view that higher inflation would be transient.
By 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 93 points, or 0.27%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 28 points, or 0.63%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 169.25 points, or 1.13%.
Pinterest Inc sank 19.4% after saying U.S. user growth was decelerating as people who used the platform for crafts and DIY projects during the height of the pandemic were stepping out more.
Caterpillar Inc, on the other hand, rose 2.3% after posting a rise in second-quarter adjusted profit on the back of a recovery in global economic activity.
Chevron Corp added 1.2% as it reported its highest profit in six quarters and joined an oil industry stampede to reward investors with share buybacks.
U.S.-listed Chinese stocks resumed their fall as Beijing deepened its crackdown on technology-related firms.
Didi Global, China’s largest ride-hailing giant, slid 4.4% as the Ministry of Transport said the country would ramp up its scrutiny of online ride-hailing firms under plans to strengthen the protection of worker rights and require firms to amend any non-compliant operations.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani, Shashank Nayar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Aditya Soni)
Source: Reuters