Major emerging powers stood ready on Friday to pledge money to bolster the International Monetary Fund's crisis-fighting war chest, though Brazil was holding out for promises that their voting power at the global lender would increase.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute releases its weekly index of economic activity for April 13 at 10:30 a.m. EDT. In the prior week, the index read 125.7.

General Electric, the largest U.S. conglomerate, is expected to post roughly flat profit and a decline in revenue that may largely reflect its sale of the NBC Universal media business last year.

Other major companies announcing results on Friday included McDonald's, Kimberly-Clark and Honeywell.

Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street's profit forecast as personal computer sales held up better than expected, lifting its shares 2.5 percent after hours on Thursday.

U.S. healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson, which on Thursday secured EU clearance to purchase Swiss medical device maker Synthes Inc for about $21 billion, said it expects to close the deal in the current quarter.

Shares in Capital One Financial Corp were up 2.1 percent after the bell on Thursday after the company posted an adjusted first-quarter profit that topped Wall Street estimates, helped by its nearly $9 billion buy of ING Direct.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc shares were up 1 percent late on Thursday after Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices forecast revenue above expectations in another sign that PC demand is holding up better than anticipated.

European shares were flat in morning trade, with investors trading cautiously ahead of the International Monetary Fund's meeting that will also focus on the euro zone debt crisis.

U.S. stocks fell for a second day on Thursday as labor market data showed more signs of weakness, while a warning from Qualcomm and poor results from Stanley Black & Decker also discouraged investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 68.65 points, or 0.53 percent, to end at 12,964.10. The S&P 500 Index dropped 8.22 points, or 0.59 percent, to 1,376.92. The Nasdaq Composite lost 23.89 points, or 0.79 percent, to 3,007.56. At their session lows, the three major indexes all fell more than 1 percent.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency