U.S. Stock Futures Fall, Indicating Fourth Decline for S&P 500

U.S. stock-index futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may slide for a fourth straight day, as oil and metals tumbled.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the world’s biggest oil company by market value, slid 0.8 percent as crude declined for a fourth day in New York. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) slipped 1.4 percent. Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI) rallied 4.3 percent in Germany as profit rose 33 percent in the second quarter.

June contracts on the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,338.5 at 7:16 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 0.3 percent to 12,640 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures retreated 0.3 percent to 2,377.

U.S. stocks fell yesterday, with commodity producers driving a third straight loss for the S&P 500, as lower-than- estimated reports on service industries and job growth damped optimism in the economy. A report from the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. in Washington today may show new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week.

“Investors are still cautious with the unemployment rate and will look at the jobless-claim figures today,” said Andreas Lipkow, an equity trader at MWB Fairtrade Wertpapierhandelsbank AG in Frankfurt.

The S&P 500 has still rallied 7.1 percent this year amid higher-than-estimated profits and economic reports. Earnings- per-share beat estimates at 73 percent of the 375 companies in the index that reported results since April 11, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Fed Stimulus

Two Federal Reserve regional bank presidents indicated that the central bank won’t remove record stimulus soon, saying the Fed is missing its goal for full employment and inflation isn’t a long-term risk.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and San Francisco’s John C. Williams followed the lead taken by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who signaled last week that policy makers will keep stimulus in place after ending large-scale bond purchases in June.

Exxon Mobil dropped 0.8 percent to $84.10 in early New York trading. Oil declined for a fourth day in New York, the longest losing streak in eight weeks, as decreasing gasoline demand added to signs of slowing growth in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer.

Albemarle Corp. (ALB), the world’s largest maker of oil-refinery catalysts, slipped 0.6 percent to $65.69 in German trading as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy.”

Freeport, Alcoa

Freeport-McMoRan, the largest publicly traded copper producer, slipped 1.4 percent to $51.14 in early New York trading. Alcoa Inc. (AA), the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, slid 0.5 percent to $17.39 in Germany.

Copper fell to the lowest price in more than seven weeks in London on concern demand may weaken as central banks around the world raise interest rates to curb inflation. Aluminum, lead, nickel, tin and zinc also retreated.

Whole Foods gained 4.3 percent to $62.30 in Germany as the largest U.S. natural-goods grocer boosted its full-year earnings projection after profit rose. Whole Foods will earn as much as $1.90 a share in 2011, the Austin, Texas-based company said. Previously, the grocer forecast profit of as much as $1.80.

Con-Way Inc. (CNW) jumped 3.2 percent to $38.79 in German trading. The trucking company said first-quarter net income was $6.9 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier. Analysts estimated profit of 4 cents a share, according to the average of 22 predictions compiled by Bloomberg.

Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) soared 3.6 percent to $27.66 in Germany. The U.S. electric-car maker said it had a first-quarter loss that was narrower than analysts estimated as it boosted revenue from battery packs and development work with partners Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp.

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net.

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U.S. Stocks Decline, Jobless Claims Rise

Jin Lee/Bloomberg

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg

2:02

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Deborah Kostroun reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks tumbled, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down for a fourth straight day, as shares of energy and raw-material companies slumped following the biggest plunge in commodities in almost two years. Bloomberg's Pimm Fox also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

7:33

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Donald Yacktman, president and chief investment officer of Yacktman Asset Management Co., talks about his investment strategy and some of his holdings including U.S. Bancorp, News Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. Yacktman talks with Carol Massar and Matt Miller on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

4:31

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Jerome Dodson, chief executive officer of Parnassus Investments, talks about his investment strategy. Dodson also discusses the outlook for small-cap stocks, corporate earnings and home builders. He speaks with Matt Miller, Carol Massar and Sheila Dharmarajan on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

6:53

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, talks about the outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy, investment strategy and some of his stock picks including Microsoft Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co. Luschini speaks with Carol Massar and Matt Miller on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

1:43

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren says the economy isn't gowing fast enough to achieve the central bank's goals of full employment and stable prices, and that "nothing's off the table" if the outlook deteriorates. Sara Eisen reports on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)