Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index poised for a weekly gain, before a report that may show U.S. employers cut the fewest jobs in October in more than a year.

Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, and Nvidia Corp. jumped at least 4.2 percent in pre-market trading as the companies reported earnings that surpassed estimates. American International Group Inc. slid 9 percent as revenue fell at its life and property-casualty operations.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December added 0.1 percent to 1,063.90 as of 12:28 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.1 percent to 9,960 and Nasdaq- 100 Index futures climbed 0.1 percent to 1,721.50. Stocks in Asia rose after Australia’s central bank boosted its economic growth outlook and shares in Europe also gained.

“It’s all about unemployment data today,” said Robert Halver, head of research at Baader Bank in Frankfurt. “The market is looking for improvement and if we could see unemployment shrink that would be great news.”

The S&P 500 has climbed 58 percent from a 12-year low in March after $11.6 trillion in government spending, lending and guarantees returned the economy to growth following four straight quarters of contraction. The index is trading at more than 21 times earnings, according to weekly data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s near the highest level since July 2002.

Weekly Advance

U.S. stocks rallied yesterday, sending the S&P 500 higher for a fourth day, as jobless claims and worker productivity beat estimates and Cisco Systems Inc. said a global economic recovery spurred a rebound in sales. The measure has climbed 2.9 percent this week.

Of 419 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly earnings since Oct. 7, 83 percent exceeded estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Payrolls fell by 175,000 workers, the smallest drop since August 2008, according to the median estimate of 84 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The jobless rate may have climbed to a 26-year high of 9.9 percent, the survey also showed.

Starbucks gained 4.2 percent to $20.53 in as the company reported fourth-quarter profit excluding some items of 24 cents a share as cost cuts expanded margins.

Nvidia surged 5.9 percent to $13 after the maker of graphics chips reported third-quarter profit excluding some items of 19 cents a share, beating the 10-cent average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Crocs, AIG

AIG retreated 9 percent to $35.75 in early New York trading, even after reporting its second straight profit as investment losses narrowed and catastrophe costs declined. Sales at property-casualty operations fell about 13 percent to $8.07 billion. Life insurance premiums and other considerations dropped 16 percent to $7.85 billion.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the Group of 20 nations should develop a way to tackle asset-price bubbles as the world’s leading economies recover. The comments help shape the agenda for a meeting of G-20 finance ministers hosted by Darling today in St. Andrews, Scotland.

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England this week moved to unwind some of the emergency steps they took to rescue the world economy from its sharpest slump since the Great Depression. Finance ministers today also will discuss a strategy to exit their fiscal stimulus measures.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Cruz in Frankfurt at jcruz6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 07:41 EST