U.S. Index Futures Are Little Changed; Bank of America Drops
By Daniela Silberstein
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed after a German official said Greece should turn to the International Monetary Fund if it requires a bailout and as investors awaited inflation figures and weekly jobless claims.
Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, and Wells Fargo & Co. both fell more than 0.5 percent. Nike Inc. climbed 1.6 percent after saying profit more than doubled.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June slipped 0.1 percent to 1,159.7 as of 11:08 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than 0.1 percent to 10,665 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined less than 0.1 percent to 1,933.
U.S. stocks rose yesterday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since October 2008, on evidence the economic recovery isn’t stoking inflation.
“Greece is not off the table,” said Urs Eilinger, Zurich- based chief investment officer at Infidar Investment Advisory Ltd., which manages about $3.2 billion. “We haven’t had a clear commitment that Greece will be helped. After markets reached new highs investors question what the next fear could be and whether the rally was justified. A negative surprise today could put more pressure on the market.”
The S&P 500 closed at 1,150.23 on Jan. 19, the highest level since October 2008, and then plunged 8.1 percent through Feb. 8 on concern that European nations including Greece will fail to pay back debt and speculation that the Fed will need to rein in emergency stimulus measures as the economy improves. The index has since erased that loss and extended its rebound since March 9, 2009, to 72 percent.
Greece
Michael Meister, the chief finance spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, said attempting a Greek rescue without the IMF “would be a very daring experiment.”
Greece may seek aid from the IMF over the April 2 to April 4 Easter weekend, Dow Jones said today, citing a senior Greek official it didn’t name.
The cost of living in the U.S. probably rose at a slower pace in February, restrained by lower gasoline prices and a stagnant home-rental market, economists said before a government report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.
The consumer price index may have climbed 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent increase in January, according to the median forecast of 79 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Other reports today may show fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits, manufacturing in the Philadelphia region accelerated and a gauge of the outlook for growth climbed.
Bank of America
Bank of America dropped 0.9 percent to $17.12 in early New York trading. Wells Fargo, the largest U.S. home lender, slipped 0.6 percent to $30.36 in Germany.
Nike climbed 4.8 percent to $74.30 in New York. The world’s largest maker of athletic shoes said third-quarter profit more than doubled, beating analysts’ estimates, as North America posted a sales increase for the first time in a year.
Broadcom Corp. advanced 1.8 percent to $34.20 in Germany. The maker of semiconductors for wireless headsets and television set-top boxes was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 18, 2010 07:10 EDT
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