Stock-Index Futures Climb as Cisco, DuPont Shares Rally Before Debt Vote

U.S. stock futures rose, signaling the market may halt a three-day slump, as Cisco Systems Inc. and DuPont Co. rallied and investor attention remained fixated on Washington before a House vote on the debt limit.

Cisco climbed 2.4 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised buying the shares. DuPont advanced 2.6 percent after increasing its full-year forecast. Exxon Mobil Corp. advanced before reporting results, while Akamai Technologies Inc. and Citrix Systems Inc. tumbled after the technology companies forecast profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in September advanced 0.2 percent to 1,301.7 at 7:49 a.m. in New York. The gauge has retreated 3 percent over the past three days amid concern lawmakers will fail to agree on an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 21 points, 0.2 percent, to 12,265.

Lawmakers are continuing to wrangle over raising the U.S. debt limit with less than a week before a potential default on Aug. 2. The House of Representatives is set to vote today on Republican John Boehner’s plan to boost the debt ceiling. The proposal faces unified opposition from Democrats in the Senate, who have a majority in the upper chamber.

Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, is among 62 companies in the S&P 500 due to release results today. Some 78 percent of companies in the gauge to have reported earnings since July 11 have exceeded analyst estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Data from the National Association of Realtors at 10 a.m. in Washington may show the number of contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell in June for a second time in three months, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Separate figures may show jobless claims fell to 415,000 last week from 418,000 the previous period.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net