Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures fell as the threat of higher interest rates and rising crude oil prices raised concern growth in corporate profit will be crimped. DuPont Co. and Boeing Co. shares slid in Europe.

``I'm pretty sure the Fed will raise rates for starters,'' said Jonathan Monk, a fund manager at Aerion Fund Management Ltd. in London, which oversees about $1 billion in U.S. stocks. ``It's going to be a slightly cautious start to the week.''

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December slipped 1.6 to 1240.7 at 9:50 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 17 to 10656 while Nasdaq-100 Index futures slipped 3.5 to 1608.

AT&T Corp., the No. 1 U.S. long-distance phone company, slid in Germany after it said third-quarter profit will be cut by costs of leases to Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp.

Industries that use oil are among the worst performers on the S&P 500 this year. The Automobile Manufacturers Index has lost 26 percent. Shares of General Motors Corp., DuPont and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., all of which are affected by energy prices, have posted three of the five biggest Dow average declines in 2005.

Today, crude oil rose from a six-week low on speculation an OPEC pledge to pump at full strength wouldn't be enough to meet demand in the event of another Gulf of Mexico hurricane. Crude for October delivery rose as much as 78 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $63.78 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

AT&T

Eighty-two of 102 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the Federal Reserve to raise the target for overnight loans among banks to 3.75 percent at its meeting tomorrow.

DuPont, the third-largest U.S. chemical maker, dropped 25 cents to $40.26 in Germany. The shares have declined 17 percent this year. Boeing, the world's No. 2 maker of commercial aircraft, slid 28 cents to $64.52.

Higher gasoline prices ``clearly did have a shock impact,'' Monk said.

General Motors stock slid 11 cents to $32.37 in Germany. The shares have fallen 19 percent in 2005, the second-worst Dow average performance. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer which has said higher energy prices harm spending at its stores, dropped 14 cents to $43.73. The stock has lost 17 percent this year.

AT&T, the biggest U.S. long-distance telephone company, fell 23 cents to $19.67. It said third-quarter net income will be reduced by $50 million because of costs from aircraft leases to Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. The carriers filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 14.

Albertson's, Comcast

Albertson's Inc. rose 52 cents to $26.52 in Germany. The grocer may be the target of a takeover bid by Tesco Plc, the biggest U.K. food chain, The Business reported, citing unidentified people.

Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable-television company, may fall after people familiar with the matter said it offered to buy Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Co.'s cable business to bolster its operations in eastern states such as Pennsylvania.

Shares of Comcast didn't trade in Germany. The Susquehanna unit may be worth as much as $800 million, the people said. They refused to give the value of Comcast's bid.

Nike Inc., the world's largest athletic-shoe maker, and Carnival Corp., the biggest cruise operator, are among companies releasing quarterly results today. Shares of Nike fell 54 cents to $77.92 in Germany. Carnival didn't trade in Europe.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as lower oil prices and President George W. Bush's pledge to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina brightened the outlook for the economy and earnings.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 10.18, or 0.8 percent, to 1237.91 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.19, or 0.8 percent, to 10,641.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 14.20, or 0.7 percent, to 2160.35.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sophie Hares in London at shares@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 19, 2005 04:56 EDT