BLBG: U.S. Stock Futures Are Little Changed Amid Budget Talks
U.S. stocks were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell the most in five weeks yesterday, as investors remained focused on budget negotiations in Washington and the economy grew faster than previously estimated.
The S&P 500 advanced less than 0.1 percent to 1,437.08 at 9:31 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. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.63 points to 13,255.60.
“The GDP report was better than expected,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps oversee $3 billion of assets as co-chief investment officer at Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC. He spoke in a telephone interview. “The market continues to be driven by the state of the fiscal cliff negotiations. That’s what people are keeping an eye on and that’s what is causing the swings in the market.”
The revised 3.1 percent growth in gross domestic product exceeded the highest projection in a Bloomberg survey and compared with a previously estimated 2.7 percent gain, according to Commerce Department figures. The median estimate of economists called for a 2.8 percent advance.
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 number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments rose for the first time in five weeks, a sign further improvement in the labor market depends on faster economic growth, Labor Department figures showed today.
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.
To contact the reporters on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net; Nikolaj Gammeltoft in New York at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
