U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fluctuate After Spending, Incomes Data
U.S. stock-index futures continued to drift between gains and losses after government data showed consumer spending climbed more than forecast in July, while growth in personal incomes trailed estimates.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in September were little changed at 1,063.7 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 10,132.
Purchases rose 0.4 percent, the most since March, after little change the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, less than projected, and the savings rate dropped.
U.S. stocks rose on Aug. 27 as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke vowed to safeguard the economy and growth in gross domestic product slowed less than estimated. The S&P 500 still dropped 0.7 percent last week as a disappointing home sales bolstered concern the recovery is at risk. The gauge is 13 percent lower than its 2010 peak on April 23.
Investors will also get reports on manufacturing and payrolls later in the week to assess whether the economic rebound is faltering.
Analysts are turning more pessimistic even as they push up estimates for profit growth among S&P 500 companies to 36 percent, the highest since 1988. For the first time since at least 1997, fewer than 29 percent of ratings for stocks covered by brokerages worldwide are “buys,” according to 159,919 recommendations compiled by Bloomberg.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, speaking at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Aug. 27, said the central bank has the tools to prevent the U.S. economy from slipping back into a recession, while stopping short of indicating an immediate need for more stimulus.
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