June 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures climbed, indicating benchmarks may rebound from their lowest in a month.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. gained after the chipmaker sued Intel Corp., claiming the company forced away potential clients. Exxon Mobil Corp. advanced after signing an agreement to sell gas from Papua New Guinea.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June rose 2.8 to 1199 at 11:47 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 27 to 10,351, with rising and falling Dow stocks evenly split at 14. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 6 to 1512.

The S&P 500 reached its lowest since May 25 yesterday as oil prices approached $61 a barrel, stoking concern that energy costs will hamper economic and profit growth. A Conference Board report today is expected to show an improving labor market and rising incomes probably lifted consumer confidence in June.

``There's a possibility we could see a bounce,'' said Robert Sellar, who oversees $2 billion as head of North American equities at Aberdeen Asset Management in London. ``At the moment we've got a little bit of nervousness.''

International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer-services provider, paced declining stocks after disclosing it's being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citigroup Inc. slipped after settling a probe by U.K. regulators into some of its bond trades last year.

Crude oil fell from a record today, trading below $60 a barrel, on speculation a 4.9 percent gain in prices during the past three days wasn't justified by rising U.S. supplies of heating oil and diesel, known as distillates.

Advanced Micro, Exxon

Advanced Micro added 10 cents to $16.75 in Germany. The No. 2 maker of chips for personal computers said Intel engaged in the ``coercion'' of potential customers including Dell Inc. and Sony Corp. Advanced Micro made an antitrust filing in a Delaware court.

Intel, the world's biggest maker of computer chips, slipped 2 cents to $25.84.

Exxon Mobil advanced 16 cents to $59.46. The world's biggest publicly traded oil company signed an initial agreement to sell natural gas from Papua New Guinea through its proposed $3.5 billion pipeline to Alcan in Australia, making it more likely the project will be developed.

IBM, the world's largest computer-services provider and No. 2 software maker, fell 62 cents to $73.26. It said yesterday that the SEC is informally probing how the company reported first- quarter results and stock-option costs. The SEC told IBM the investigation isn't an indication that the company did anything illegal. The shares lost as much as 88 cents in extended U.S. trading yesterday.

Citigroup, Paychex

Citigroup slipped 21 cents to $46.56. The world's biggest bank will pay 13.9 million pounds ($25 million) to settle an investigation by the U.K. securities regulator into a series of European government bond trades that roiled markets last year.

Paychex Inc., a provider of payroll services, gained 54 cents to $30.56 after reporting earnings that topped analysts' estimates. The Rochester, New York-based company said fiscal fourth-quarter profit was 27 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 24 cents in a Thomson Financial survey.

Altria Group Inc., the owner of Philip Morris, the world's biggest tobacco company, may be active when U.S. exchanges open. The U.S. Justice Department said cigarette makers should pay $14 billion over 10 years and cut youth smoking by 42 percent by 2013 as part of a proposed remedy in a racketeering suit against tobacco companies. The shares added 24 cents to $65.21 in Germany.

Wyeth, Pfizer

Wyeth may climb. The maker of the antidepressant Effexor raised its estimate for 2005 earnings to $2.80 to $2.90 a share, citing revenue growth, slower-than-expected cost increases and favorable tax developments. The company in April estimated profit of as much as $2.80. The shares didn't trade in Europe.

Pfizer Inc. may be active when U.S. markets open. The largest drugmaker said yesterday it will change the label for Viagra to warn doctors about sudden vision loss that has occurred in some men who took the impotence pill. Pfizer released its statement before a CBS report that examined data on complications among Viagra users. The shares rose 9 cents to $28.17 in Switzerland.

Boston Scientific Corp. may slip. The company said it's recalling all of its Hemashield Vantage vascular grafts made in the past two years because the devices may fray or tear during suturing, leading to complications after surgery. The shares didn't trade in Europe after sliding 1 percent in extended U.S. trading yesterday.

The Conference Board's confidence index is expected to rise to 104.1, the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 49 economists and the highest since February. The index was 102.2 in May. The report is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

`Positive Factors'

``Although we have been focusing on some of the negatives for equities, we do believe that there are a number of positive factors that could help drive stock prices higher,'' Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, wrote in a note to clients yesterday. His firm manages $473 billion.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will release its interest-rate decision on June 30. All but two of 84 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the central bank to boost its target overnight bank-lending rate to 3.25 percent, marking its ninth straight quarter-point rise since last June.

Doll said that historically low interest rates and corporate profit growth that has outpaced share gains should help stocks into the second half.

BMC Software Inc. is one of two S&P 500 companies expected to report earnings today. Analysts at UBS AG raised their recommendation on the stock to ``neutral'' from ``reduce'' ahead of the earnings release. The shares didn't trade in Europe.

Apollo Group Inc., the biggest for-profit education company, also reports earnings. Its shares didn't trade in Europe after jumping almost 4 percent yesterday, when its competitor ITT Educational Services Inc. was cleared of any wrongdoing in an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.

The S&P 500 lost 0.88, or 0.1 percent, to 1190.69 yesterday. The Dow average dropped 7.06, or 0.1 percent, to 10,290.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 8.07, or 0.4 percent, to 2045.20.

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

Last Updated: June 28, 2005 06:59 EDT