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PRE-MARKET MOVERS: Johnson & Johnson nudges higher after it beats forecasts but UnitedHealth Group shares drop

Last updated: 07:39 17 Jul 2018 EDT, First published: 02:39 17 Jul 2018 EDT

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It's earnings season for sure but US shares are poised for a lower open as traders continue to fret about global growth.

Away from the Netflix bloodbath, pharma and consumer goods giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares were up 0.25% to stand at US$125 in pre-market deals as its results beat profit and revenue projections.

The group's pharma business was behind growth in the second quarter while its consumer unit lagged, it revealed.

The firm has also narrowed its full-year forecast.  The medical device segments topped expectations, while and its consumer unit fell short.

Profit came in at US$1.45 per share, while earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were US$2.10 per share, or 4 cents better than Wall Street had expected.

Elsewhere, in pre-market deals, UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) saw shares drop 1.94% to US$252 despite the largest US health insurer reporting  a rise of nearly 28% in quarterly profit on Tuesday, driven by growth across its businesses.

Earnings rose to US$2.98 per share (EPS), in the second quarter to June 30 compared to US$2.32 per share, a year earlier.

Also in pre-market, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shares are down 0.28% to US$230.01 before the bell, as it reported EPS (earnings per share) of US$5.98 a share versus an expected EPS of US$4.66 on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, Carbonite Inc (NASDAQ:CARB) shares were flat in pre-market after losing 6% earlier after the cloud-storage firm announced it was offering 4mln of its common shares and it emerged that David Friend,  the company's co-founder, is selling around 520,000 shares, but Carbonite will not see any proceeds from Friend's sale.

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