NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall St stock index futures pointed to a lower start on Friday as investors stayed cautious ahead of U.S. GDP data, with S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures down 0.3 to 0.4 percent at 5:11 a.m. ET.

The main focus on Friday is U.S. GDP figures at 8:30 a.m. ET. U.S. economic growth likely slowed in the second quarter as a capital investment drive by businesses was sated by imports and consumer spending tapered off, a government report is expected to show.

Investors will also watch the final reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for July, Chicago PMI for July, and the New York ISM survey for July.

Company earnings in focus include oil company Chevron (CVX.N), insurance brokerage Aon Corp. (AON.N), and drugmaker Merck & Co. (MRK.N).

MetLife Inc (MET.N), the biggest U.S. life insurance company, posted a second-quarter profit of $1.53 billion late Thursday, helped by higher premium revenue from sales domestically and abroad.

New York's attorney general has subpoenaed MetLife Inc (MET.N) and Prudential Financial Inc (PRU.N) as part of a probe into whether life insurers are defrauding families of deceased military personnel by siphoning off millions of dollars of death benefits for themselves.

Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit late on Thursday and the world's largest biotechnology company said the launch of its new osteoporosis drug Prolia was progressing as planned.

Google Inc (GOOG.O) said its earlier report that Internet search services in China were being fully blocked could have been the result of a technical glitch that overstated the problem.

Li Lu, a Chinese-American investor and hedge fund manager, could be in line to take a top investment role at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) and even succeed the legendary U.S. investor, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged billionaire Samuel Wyly and his brother Charles with fraud late Thursday for reaping more than $550 million of illicit gains by trading stock in four companies while they were serving as directors.

European shares slipped for a third straight session on Friday, with construction shares among top losers, as concerns over U.S. economic growth and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official hurt market sentiment.

By 5:11 a.m. ET, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top shares was down 0.4 percent at 1,042.42 points.

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) closed down 1.6 percent as signs that the U.S. recovery was faltering outweighed upbeat domestic earnings.

U.S. stocks sagged in volatile trading on Thursday after weak outlooks from technology companies and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors little reason to buy.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 0.3 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) fell 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dropped 0.6 percent.

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Erica Billingham)