Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said policymakers should cut interest rates this month to boost a job market that looks to be weakening.

U.S. stock index futures were muted on Friday, taking a breather after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed the previous session at record highs on upbeat earnings and economic data, while Netflix's standout profit failed to ignite enthusiasm.

This past April, when President Donald Trump started flirting with the notion of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, stocks and the dollar tumbled because investors worried that even talking about such a move crossed a red line.

Dow Futures edged up slightly ahead of the Wall Street open on Friday, as investors held onto optimism after major indexes hit fresh record highs the day before.

A healthy crop of earnings helped European stocks bust out of a four-day losing streak on Thursday, Wall Street was watching Netflix and the dollar bounced after U.S. President Donald Trump quashed talk he was about to fire Fed head Jerome Powell.

PepsiCo jumped 7.5% after delivering revenue and profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations. The drink and snack giant also stood by its financial forecasts given in April, which projected lower full-year profit than previous forecasts due to increased costs from tariffs and a pullback in consumer spending.

Many on Wall Street have privately worried that political pressure will undermine the Federal Reserve’s credibility.

Financial market participants have pushed out yet again the end date for the effort to shrink the size of the Federal Reserve's large balance sheet, the minutes of the U.S. central bank's June 17-18 policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 is on the cusp of a new record high following the central bank’s dovish forecast on interest rates. But some market watchers are questioning the durability of the rally.