Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may trim its best weekly gain since 1974, after Europe’s largest computer-chip maker cut its sales forecast and lower oil dragged down energy producers.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest semiconductor company, retreated 2.4 percent after European rival STMicroelectronics NV said fourth-quarter sales may fall as much as 18 percent from the previous quarter. Chevron Corp. lost 1.5 percent as crude slid on speculation a potential OPEC production cut may fail to outweigh declining demand. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. slid as retailers discounted goods as much as 70 percent to counter what may be the weakest holiday shopping season in six years.

The S&P 500 surged 11 percent this week as the Federal Reserve committed as much as $800 billion to help resuscitate lending markets and investors speculated President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team will bolster growth. The index has still tumbled 43 percent from its October 2007 record as credit- related losses and writedowns at global financial companies approach $1 trillion. Exchanges were shut yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will close at 1 p.m. today.

“We are in a very anomalous situation where you get these enormous, sharp, short-covering rallies and then it falls off again,” Gavin Graham, director of investments at Bank of Montreal Asset Management in Toronto, said on Bloomberg Television. “It would be fair to assume that in a year’s time we’ll be substantially higher than we are now.”

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December fell 0.6 percent to 881 at 9:06 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 0.5 percent to 8,658, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures lost 1.4 percent to 1,178.25.

Weekly Performance

This week’s rally in U.S. stocks helped push the MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets up 11 percent since Nov. 21, the steepest weekly advance since data began in 1970.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell for the first time in five days today as STMicroelectronics said fourth-quarter revenue and gross margin will miss forecasts after a slowdown in demand from the wireless, automotive and computer peripherals industries.

Intel, whose chips run more than three-quarters of the world’s computers, lost 13 cents to $13.84.

STMicroelectronics said sales will be $2.2 billion to $2.35 billion, down 13 percent to 18 percent from $2.7 billion in the previous quarter. The company had predicted sales being unchanged or falling 8 percent.

Chevron, Oil

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, retreated 48 cents to $79.45. Crude oil for January delivery dropped 1.8 percent to $53.48 a barrel in New York. OPEC members may consider a reduction at their meeting this weekend in Cairo to stabilize the market, Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corp., said yesterday.

Concerns about waning oil consumption have increased after reports showed the U.S. economy slowed and consumer spending fell. Gasoline demand dropped 1.3 percent from last week, the Energy Department said in its weekly report.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. slumped 15 percent to $17.25. The second-biggest independent U.S. producer of natural gas said it will seek to raise about $2 billion to finance projects and acquisitions by selling shares.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, decreased 19 cents to $56.50. Individuals may spend an average of $616 on holiday gifts this year, down 29 percent from a year earlier, according to a Gallup Inc. poll. That raises the pressure on chains facing declining consumer confidence and the prospect of a recession.

‘Black Friday’

Retailers promoted “doorbuster” deals to attract customers today, the day traditionally called “Black Friday.” The day after Thanksgiving is considered to be when retailers start to make their annual profit, having paid off their costs from sales earlier in the year.

“It’s going to be a really tough Christmas shopping season, but a lot of this is built into the stocks, and there is huge stimulus coming down the pipeline,” Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Ridgeworth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, said on Bloomberg Television. “We are cautiously bullish.” Ridgeworth manages $70 billion.

President-elect Barack Obama yesterday said the U.S. faces a “time of great trial” and an economic recovery won’t come from “policies and plans alone.”

“It will take the hard work, innovation, service and strength of the American people” to end the financial crisis, he said yesterday in his weekly radio address.

Eli Lilly & Co. fell 70 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $32.17. The world’s biggest maker of psychiatric medicines withdrew its application for U.S. approval of the antidepressant Cymbalta as a treatment for chronic pain, after regulators questioned whether the drug was shown to work for that purpose.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net. Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 28, 2008 09:09 EST