U.S. Stock-Index Futures Little Changed Before Fed Policy
New York (Sept 15) U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after equities posted a weekly decline, as investors awaited today’s reports on industrial activity and the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting starting tomorrow.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) rose 1.1 percent in pre-market New York trading after people with knowledge of the matter said Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. may increase the price range of its initial public offering. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. gained 3 percent after agreeing to buy TriZetto Corp. Symantec Corp. dropped 2.2 percent after RBC Capital Markets LLC lowered its rating on the security-software maker to the equivalent of a hold.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December lost less than 0.1 percent to 1,975.9 at 7:26 a.m. in New York, after earlier falling as much as 0.4 percent as China’s industrial-production and retail-sales figures missed estimates. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slipped 1 point, less than 0.1 percent, to 16,905.
“The Fed’s announcement this week is certainly on investors’ mind -- what will be in the statement, whether they’ll remove the phrase on keeping interest rates low for a ‘considerable time’,” Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, said. “Data at this stage is generally headed in the right direction. The U.S. is making some progress, but China and Europe have been more disappointing.”
The S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent last week, ending the longest streak of gains this year, as data showing the fastest increase in retail sales in four months and the highest level of consumer confidence in 14 months spurred speculation that the economy is recovering enough to justify higher interest rates.
Fed Meeting
Today’s releases will provide further clues to investors about the outlook for rates before the Federal Open Market Committee meets Sept. 16-17.
Data at 8:30 a.m. may show the Fed Bank of New York’s Empire Manufacturing (EMPRGBCI) gauge, which tracks activity in the New York region, climbed this month to 16 from 14.69 last month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A separate report may show U.S. industrial production, which includes mines and utilities, rose 0.3 percent in August compared with 0.4 percent the previous month. Figures may also show factory output increased 0.2 percent last month.
Yahoo! climbed 1.1 percent to $43.35. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company in which Yahoo is the second-biggest shareholder, plans to increase the top end of its IPO price range to just below $70 amid strong investor demand, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Alibaba was previously marketing the shares at $60 to $66, according to U.S. regulatory filings.
TriZetto Deal
Cognizant gained 3 percent to $46.09. The Teaneck, New Jersey-based company plans to buy TriZetto from Apax Partners for $2.7 billion in an all-cash deal to expand in health-care industry software. Cognizant has arranged $1 billion in financing to back the purchase. Additional revenue and savings will total about $1.5 billion in the next five years, the company said.
Symantec fell 2.2 percent to $24 in early trading. The Mountain View, California-based company was lowered to sector perform from outperform by Matthew Hedberg of RBC Capital Markets.
Rackspace Hosting Inc. slid 2 percent to $37.75. The provider of cloud-computing services was cut to neutral, the equivalent of a hold, from overweight, the equivalent of a buy, by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Danaher Corp. may move. The U.S. medical-device maker agreed to acquire Nobel Biocare Holding AG for $2.2 billion after the Swiss maker of dental implants searched for a buyer amid a wave of consolidation in the health industry.
Source: Bloomberg
