Bloomberg (25/10) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, with
the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index trading near a record, as investors
awaited data on durable-goods orders and consumer confidence in the
world’s largest economy. Yahoo Inc. dropped 0.8 percent in
pre-market trading after Yahoo Japan Corp. (4689) forecast full-year
sales and profits that missed analysts’ estimates. Ford (F) Motor Co.
dropped 0.6 percent. Amazon.com Inc. surged 7.8 percent after posting
third-quarter revenue that exceeded projections. Microsoft Corp. jumped
4.4 percent as quarterly sales and profit beat predictions. S&P
500 (SPX) futures expiring in December slipped less than 0.1 percent to
1,747.3 at 10:54 a.m. in London. Equities are heading for their third
weekly rally as signs of slower economic recovery fueled bets the
Federal Reserve will wait until March before scaling back bond
purchases. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1 point,
less than 0.1 percent, to 15,455 today. “Some profit taking
might be overdue as we have had quite a run recently,” Philippe Gijsels,
chief strategist at BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels, said. “Longer-term,
you should be looking at economic data, corporate data, but clearly
what’s driving markets right now is central-bank accommodation. What
spooked the markets was the tapering fears and now it’s postponed to
early 2014. That will support equities.” The S&P 500 has
advanced 4.2 percent this month, closing at a record of 1,754.67 on Oct.
22, as lawmakers agreed to raise the government’s borrowing limit,
avoiding a sovereign default.
