Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures fell. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. declined in Europe after the retailer posted results that showed slowing earnings growth.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December lost 2.9 to 1183 as of 12:07 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 22 to 10,540 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined 4.5 to 1559. Twenty-one of 28 Dow stocks trading in Europe declined.

Earnings last quarter for companies in the S&P 500 Index rose about 17 percent based on the share-weighted average of the 462 companies that released results by Nov. 12. The amount is the smallest increase since the second quarter of 2003.

``You have decelerating earnings,'' Christopher Wiles, who helps oversee $4.5 billion at National City Investment Management in Pittsburgh, said yesterday. ``You have an economy that is definitely going to be struggling.''

Shares of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, dropped 4 cents to $57.66 in Germany.

The company missed its forecast for a same-store sales gain of 3 percent to 5 percent in the third quarter. Sluggish sales growth helped cause profit to lag behind Wal-Mart's annual average gain of 15 percent in the past five years.

Net income rose 13 percent to $2.29 billion, or 54 cents a share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 31, helped by a tax credit.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest computer-printer maker, is among eight S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings today. Its shares were unchanged at $19.42 in Germany.

The company may say fourth-quarter profit excluding some gains and losses rose 2.8 percent to 37 cents a share, based on Thomson Financial estimates. Sales probably rose 7 percent, the smallest gain in more than a year.

Producer Prices

U.S. producer prices probably increased 0.6 percent in October, reflecting surging energy costs, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Bloomberg. That would be the biggest rise in five months. Excluding food and fuel costs, prices likely rose 0.1 percent. The Labor Department issues the report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

Home Depot Inc. climbed $1.22 to $43.74. The largest home- improvement chain said third-quarter net income rose to 60 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected on average 57 cents a share.

Staples, Google

Staples Inc. climbed 9 cents to $31.28 in Germany after the world's biggest office-supplies retailer said third-quarter earnings climbed 26 percent to $208.9 million, or 41 cents a share.

Google Inc. fell 69 cents to $184.18 in Germany. Employees and other insiders at the owner of the world's most-used Internet search engine will be allowed to sell 39.1 million shares today, potentially doubling the amount of stock on the market and putting pressure on the price.

General Motors Corp. declined 35 cents to $39.90 in Germany. The world's biggest automaker is backing away from its target, set in 2002, of achieving net income of $10 a share within two years, the Wall Street Journal said in its ``Heard on the Street'' column, citing GM Spokeswoman Toni Simonetti.

The objective has become harder to reach in the time originally envisaged, partly because of rising health-care costs, the newspaper quoted Simonetti as saying.

Fannie Mae

Shares of Fannie Mae, the biggest source of U.S. mortgage money, may decline. The company's third-quarter profit fell below analysts' estimates and the company missed a Securities and Exchange Commission deadline for filing financial statements.

So-called core earnings, or profit before gains or losses in financial contracts, increased 1 percent to $1.85 billion, or $1.86 a share. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was $1.89 a share. Net income fell 9 percent to $2.42 billion, or $2.45 a share. The stock didn't trade in Europe.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. fell 8 cents to $27.92 in Germany. The insurance broker accused by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of rigging bids has been contacted by over 20 states about issues related to the New York charges, new chief executive, Michael Cherkasky told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

``We're planning on the certainty that we'll have to settle with multiple states,'' the 54-year-old former prosecutor told the paper. Cherkasky said the company expects to settle Spitzer's charges by the end of the year, the paper said.

Charter Communications

Charter Communications Inc. dropped 37 cents to $2.34 in German trading. The cable-television operator controlled by billionaire Paul Allen said it plans to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as many as 150 million of its common stock to be sold in a public offering. The company also plans to sell $750 million in convertible notes.

In Asia, Morgan Stanley Capital International's Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 900 companies, lost 0.2 percent as of 8:53 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.6 percent.

The S&P 500 Index fell 0.36 to 1183.81, slipping from a three-year high. The Dow average added 0.1 percent to 10,550.24 while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 percent to 2094.09.

To contact the reporter on this story: Margo Towie in Brussels at mtowie@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 16, 2004 07:13 EST