U.S. Stock Futures Little Changed After Housing Starts Report

U.S. stock futures were little changed after data showed housing starts in October climbed to a four-year high.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December rose 0.1 percent to 1,384.5 at 8:33 a.m. in New York.

Starts rose 3.6 percent to a 894,000 annual rate, the fastest since July 2008, after a 863,000 pace in September, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for starts to fall to 840,000. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, eased after surging the previous month.

U.S. stocks rose yesterday, giving the S&P 500 its biggest advance since Sept. 6, amid better-than-forecast sales of previously owned homes and as President Barack Obama expressed confidence that he will agree on a budget compromise with Congress.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeff Sutherland at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net