Bloomberg (31/10) -- European stock-index futures fell, signaling the
Stoxx Europe 600 Index will trim a monthly gain, as investors speculated
the Federal Reserve may start paring bond purchases sooner than
forecast. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also dropped.BNP
Paribas SA may be active after France’s largest bank posted an
unexpected increase in third-quarter net income. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV
may move after the world’s biggest brewer posted profit growth that
beat estimates. Alcatel-Lucent may move after reporting a
narrower-than-anticipated net loss. Air France-KLM Group may be active
after saying earnings will be at the bottom of its 2014 projected range.Futures
on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring in December declined 0.3 percent to
3,023 at 7:17 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600, the broader region-wide
benchmark, has climbed 3.3 percent in October, rallying for the second
consecutive month. Contracts on the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid 0.2
percent today. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.3 percent,
while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.8 percent.The
Federal Open Market Committee yesterday said the economy shows signs of
underlying strength even as it maintained $85 billion in monthly bond
purchases yesterday while waiting to see more evidence of sustained
improvement. At the same time, the FOMC dropped its warning from last
month’s meeting that “tightening” financial conditions could impair the
four-year expansion.
