U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will climb for a third day, as China vowed to maintain its growth target and investors awaited a report on services businesses in February. Qualcomm Inc. jumped 2 percent as it increased its dividend by 40 percent and set up a $5 billion share buyback plan. American Apparel Inc. climbed 18 percent after forecasting sales for this year that exceeded analysts’ estimates. J.C. Penney Co. slipped 3.3 percent after its second-biggest shareholder sold part of its stake. S&P 500 futures expiring this month added 0.4 percent to 1,531.2 at 8:25 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 43 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,159 today. Both equity indexes are trading near their record highs. “There’s more optimism about the U.S. thanks to the Fed,� said Jacques Porta, who helps manage $627 million as a fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine in Paris. “The data confirm that the U.S. economy is restarting, but they also show that the recovery is slow. That means more stimulus, which is good for markets, especially for U.S. stocks.� The Dow advanced yesterday to its highest level since October 2007 amid optimism the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus measures to support the economic recovery. Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said yesterday the U.S. central bank should press on with $85 billion in monthly bond buying while tracking possible costs and risks from the unprecedented program. Bull Market The bull market in U.S. equities enters its fifth year this month. The S&P 500 (SPX) has surged 125 percent from a 12-year low in 2009 as companies reported better-than-estimated earnings and the Fed embarked on three rounds of bond purchases to stimulate the economy. The S&P 500 is trading at 2.6 percent below the record of 1,565.15 that it set in October 2007. The Dow is less than 0.3 percent from its high of 14,164.53. Global equities rose today as China pledged to support economic expansion. The nation will keep its growth target at 7.5 percent for this year and plans a 10 percent jump in fiscal spending, the government said during the start of the National People’s Congress today. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of U.S. non- manufacturing businesses, which accounts for almost 90 percent of the economy, continued to expand last month, a report at 10 a.m. New York time may show. The gauge slipped to 55 in February from 55.2 in January, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. Readings greater than 50 mean that activity increased. Qualcomm Gains Qualcomm jumped 2 percent to $67.96. The largest seller of semiconductors for mobile phones will increase its quarterly cash dividend to 35 cents from 25 cents, rewarding investors after rising demand for smartphones that run on its technology spurred sales growth. The new share repurchase plan replaces an older $4 billion plan that had $2.5 billion remaining. American Apparel surged 18 percent to $1.52 as the retailer projected sales of $654 million to $660 million in 2013. That beat the $650.2 million average of two analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. J.C. Penney declined 3.3 percent to $16.18 after people familiar with the matter said Vornado Realty Trust sold 10 million shares in the department-store company at $16.40 apiece through Deutsche Bank AG. To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net; Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net

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