By Kate Gibson and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures edged lower Wednesday after Fitch Ratings said the European Central Bank must do more to help Italy and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s report on the U.S. economy.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ2H -0.27% fell 31 points to 12,359. S&P 500 Index futures SP2H -0.27% declined 3.4 points to 1,282.70, while Nasdaq 100 futures ND2H -0.15% slipped 4.25 points to 2,359.25.
The euro fell and European equities turned lower after David Riley, Fitch’s head of sovereign ratings, reportedly said the European Central Bank should step up purchases of troubled government bonds. Riley said the move is needed to support Italy and prevent a “cataclysmic” euro collapse, Reuters reported. Read Europe Markets
Strategists said the reaction underscored market tensions as investors eye the long-running debt crisis.
“In the near term, we sense that with investors as anxious and defensively positioned as they seem still to be, the markets may remain poised to respond positively to even modestly positive news, even if it merely confirms that the lackluster base case remains more likely than the various risk cases that surround it,” wrote strategists at Barclays Capital, in a note.
Oil prices, which often trade inversely to the dollar, also fell as the dollar gained.
Shares of Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.40% fell 1.4% in premarket trade. A news report said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Windows unit, told an investment conference on Tuesday that the decline in industry-wide fourth-quarter total PC shipments will probably exceed the 1% drop analysts are forecasting due to disruptions caused by last year’s flooding in Thailand.
Earnings season continues with results expected ahead of the opening bell from home builder Lennar Corp. LEN +2.07% and grocery retailer Supervalu Inc. SVU -9.42% .
Shares of Urban Outfitters URBN -16.53% fell 16% in premarket trade. The specialty retailer late Tuesday said its chief executive, Glen Senk, had resigned, effective immediately, and had been replaced by Chairman Richard Hayne.
Shoe maker Crocs Inc. CROX +6.52% said late Tuesday it expects annual revenue this year to surpass $1 billion for the first time.
The economic calendar features the release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of economic anecdotes at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
Most Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday, underpinned by gains in the resource and financial sectors after a strong performance for global equities and commodities the previous day. Read Asia Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.56% ended Tuesday up 69.78 points at 12,462.47, its highest close since July 26. The S&P 500 SPX +0.89% rose 11.38 points to finish at 1,292.08, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP +0.97% settled 25.94 points higher at 2,702.50.
