U.S. stock futures were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell the most in five weeks yesterday, before House Republicans vote on a proposal to increase taxes for the highest earners.
NYSE Euronext jumped 24 percent in Europe after a person familiar with the matter said IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) plans to buy the bourse. Accenture Plc (ACN) tumbled 5.5 percent after saying first-quarter revenue from technology consulting fell 3 percent from a year earlier. Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (FOLD) sank 50 percent after saying its experimental treatment for Fabry disease failed in a clinical trial.
S&P 500 futures expiring in March advanced 0.1 percent to 1,434.3 at 7:45 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark yesterday slipped from its highest level since Oct. 18 as a White House spokesman said President Barack Obama would veto a proposal presented by Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,226 today.
“Until the end of the talks, there will be a lot of uncertainties and therefore, market volatility,” said Jacques Porta, who helps manage $627 million at Ofi Patrimoine in Paris. “It’s difficult to imagine that there won’t be a deal. Unfortunately, because of the budget talks, the volatility won’t go away and markets are not going to be calm as they usually are this time of the year.”
Boehner’s Plan
Republicans in Congress will vote today on Boehner’s plan to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million. The proposal is aimed at preventing more than $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts from coming into effect next year.
White House officials told a group of industry representatives that Obama’s budget talks with Boehner have deteriorated, a person familiar with the meeting said yesterday.
The S&P 500 has gained 14 percent this year, its largest annual rally since 2009. The benchmark measure has risen 1.4 percent this month.
Sales of previously owned homes rose to a 4.9 million annual rate in November, from 4.79 million in October, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The National Association of Realtors will publish the report at 10 a.m. in Washington.
A Labor Department report at 8:30 a.m. will show initial jobless claims increased to 360,000 in the week ended Dec. 15, from 343,000 a week earlier, according to the median economist projection in a Bloomberg survey.
Revised figures from the Commerce Department at the same time will show that the gross domestic product of the world’s biggest economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter, compared with a previous estimate of 2.7 percent, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
NYSE Euronext
NYSE Euronext (NYX) surged 24 percent to $29.78 in Europe after IntercontinentalExchange was said to have held talks to buy the owner of the world’s biggest stock market. The bid on NYSE Euronext, which has a market capitalization of $5.8 billion, may be announced as early as this week, the person said. Trading in the company’s shares was halted, according to a statement on the website of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) jumped 7.1 percent to $55.85 in early New York trading after Swiss newspaper L’Agefi said Roche Holding AG may buy the U.S. genetic-sequencing company for $66 a share, a higher price than its first bid in April. The newspaper said it failed to verify the source of the information.
Accenture, the world’s second-largest technology consultancy, slid 5.5 percent to $66.55 in Germany. Sales from advising clients, its biggest source of revenue, declined to $3.96 billion, the company said late yesterday. Customers have opted for contracts over longer periods that don’t generate revenue as quickly, a trend that will continue into the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Pamela Craig said.
Amicus slumped 50 percent to $2.87 after saying a drug it was developing with GlaxoSmithKline Plc failed to perform better than a placebo. Fabry disease is a rare genetic disorder in which patients can’t break down fats that accumulate in the body’s organs.
To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
