By Michael Patterson Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures fell as concern the government’s payrolls report will show employers cut jobs last month at the fastest pace in 26 years offset a rally in energy companies on higher oil prices. Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest internet retailer, and Hewlett-Packard Co. declined in Europe before Labor Department figures that may show the unemployment rate jumped to 6.8 percent, the highest since 1993. ConocoPhillips and Schlumberger Ltd. rose as crude rebounded to more than $44 a barrel. Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. increased after China and the U.S. pledged $20 billion to fund trade. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December slipped 0.2 percent to 845.90 at 6:44 a.m. in New York, erasing an early gain of as much as 0.9 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 0.1 percent to 8,394 and Nasdaq- 100 Index futures fell 0.4 percent to 1,130.25. European shares dropped, while Asian stocks advanced. “It’s a market that’s fighting a headwind but nevertheless grinding forward,” said David Sowerby, who helps oversee about $103 billion as money manager at Loomis Sayles & Co. in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. “It’s not going to be a simple road to recovery,” he told Bloomberg Television. Payrolls probably shrank by 333,000 workers last month, the biggest drop since July 1982, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The Labor Department’s report is due at 8:30 a.m. Payroll estimates of the 73 economists surveyed ranged from losses of 220,000 to 470,000. The jobless rate last month probably rose from 6.5 percent in October. Amazon.com, Hewlett-Packard Amazon.com declined 1.2 percent to $46.77 in Germany. Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest personal-computer maker, lost 0.9 percent to $33.09. Energy shares in the S&P 500 tumbled 6.2 percent as a group yesterday on Merrill Lynch & Co.’s prediction that oil will hit $25 a barrel. The industry led a late sell-off in the market that helped push the S&P 500 toward its fourth weekly decline since October. The benchmark index is still 12 percent above its 11- year low on Nov. 20, having slumped 42 percent this year. The S&P 500 has dropped 5.7 percent this week and the Dow average has retreated 5.1 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index has declined 5.9 percent. ConocoPhillips, the Houston-based oil producer whose biggest shareholder is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., rose 0.3 percent to $46.41. Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield contactor, increased 0.9 percent to $40.36. Oil Rallies Crude oil climbed as much as 1.8 percent to $44.47 a barrel in New York after retreating 6.7 percent yesterday to the lowest level since January 2005. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, advanced 4.8 percent to $8.45. Caterpillar, the maker of backhoes and excavators that gets 14 percent of its sales from Asia, rose 0.3 percent to $37.64. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the extra trade finance will be supplied by import-export banks in China and the U.S. The money would be available to “creditworthy importers in developing economies” to finance exports from the U.S. and China and to benefit the global economy, Paulson said. “China is stepping up its efforts to promote global growth and stability.” The U.S. also agreed to speed up approvals for Chinese financial institutions investing in the country, the nations said in a joint statement as the Strategic Economic Dialogue ended in Beijing today. General Motors Corp. added 6.3 percent to $4.37 in Germany. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner told lawmakers yesterday he would accept strict conditions for a U.S. loan to stay afloat, including a promise to return the money and file for bankruptcy if his company doesn’t fulfill the terms. GM says it needs $8 billion to keep from running out of cash by early next year. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.

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