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U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Google Advances

By Alexis Xydias

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed. Shares of Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, rose in Europe after Credit Suisse First Boston said the stock may extend their 44 percent gain this year.

Bombardier Inc., the world's biggest maker of rail equipment, fell before releasing its latest quarterly earnings.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures expiring in June added 3 to 10,483 as of 8:33 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures increased 1.2 to 1193.5 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 0.5 to 1545.5.

Google added $2.13 to $279.40 in Germany. In a note to investors today, CSFB raised a 12-month share-price estimate for Google by 27 percent to $350 apiece. The brokerage said the stock may be lifted ``given the momentum in the company's advertising business, the growing impact of new business and a valuation that is far from stretched.''

Bombardier dropped 12 cents to $1.93. The Canadian company may say before markets open that it had a first-quarter profit of 2 cents per share, compared with a loss of 6 cents a year earlier, according to a Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

Growth at U.S. manufacturers probably slowed for a sixth- straight month in May, economists forecast an industry report to show today.

The Institute for Supply Management's factory index probably fell to 52.1 last month from 53.3 in April, according to the median estimate from 69 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The projected reading is the lowest since June 2003, when manufacturing started an uninterrupted expansion. Numbers higher than 50 indicate growth. Lower ones mean contraction.

The report from the institute, based in Tempe, Arizona, is due for release at 10 a.m. Washington time.

U.S. stocks fell yesterday, trimming this year's biggest monthly gains for benchmark indexes, after a measure of Chicago- area business dropped to the lowest level in almost two years.

The S&P 500 climbed 3 percent in May, while the Dow added 2.7 percent as reports suggested the economy may continue to grow at a pace that won't spark inflation. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 7.6 percent for its largest gain since October 2003.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Xydias in London at axydias@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 1, 2005 03:36 EDT

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