U.S. stock-index futures declined, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will pare its seventh monthly gain, as consumer spending unexpectedly fell and before reports on consumer confidence and business activity. Dell (DELL) Inc. dropped 0.5 percent as shareholders sued founder Michael Dell, the company’s board and private-equity partners over his bid to take the computer maker private. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) slumped 13 percent in New York after it issued a revenue forecast short of analyst estimates. Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) Corp. climbed 4.4 percent after reporting higher-than-estimated fourth-quarter results. S&P 500 futures expiring next month retreated 0.5 percent to 1,644.8 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 78 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,241 today. “Investors are waiting for further clues about the development and the state of the U.S. economy,� said John Plassard, who helps oversee $28 billion as vice president at Mirabaud Securities LLP in Geneva. “Yesterday’s worse-than-expected data was good news for those who interpret it as further stimulus, but it was bad in terms of economic trend. We’re also at the last day of what was an incredibly good month, so some profit taking is in store.� The S&P 500 advanced yesterday after data on economic growth and jobless claims that fell short of estimates boosted speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain the pace of its monthly bond buying. The benchmark gauge is still heading toward the longest monthly-winning streak since September 2009. Consumer Spending Equity futures maintained losses after a report today showed consumer spending in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in April as incomes stagnated, putting the biggest part of the U.S. economy on shaky ground at the start of the second quarter. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of U.S. consumer sentiment climbed in May to 83.7, the highest level since July 2007, according to the median projection of economists in a Bloomberg survey. That matches this month’s preliminary reading and follows 76.4 in April. The report is due at 9:55 a.m. New York time. Separate data at 9:45 a.m. New York time may show business activity in the U.S. remained stable in May. The MNI Chicago Report’s business barometer rose to 50, from 49 in April, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. Dell Suit Dell dropped 0.5 percent to $13.21. Shareholders led by a private investor and the Mid-South Iron Workers Pension Fund said the founder’s $24.4 billion offer to take the company private is underpriced when measured against the recent stock-buyback program and competing valuations proposed by major-stakeholder Carl Icahn. Palo Alto Networks slumped 13 percent to $47.52. The maker of network security systems’ said sales in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in July will be $106 million to $110 million. The average analyst projection called for revenue of $113.7 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Lions Gate Entertainment climbed 3.5 percent to $29. The maker of the “Twilight� teen-vampire movies reported fourth-quarter net income of $163 million, compared with a loss of $22.7 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 22 percent to $785.7 million in the period ended March 31, beating estimates of $746.5 million. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (KKD) jumped 8.9 percent to $15.53 after the company raised its estimate for full-year adjusted earnings per share to 59 cents to 63 cents, compared with an earlier forecast of 53 cents to 57 cents. Analysts had estimated 58 cents. Guess? Inc. (GES) rallied 7.4 percent to $31.51 after forecasting second-quarter EPS of 34 cents to 38 cents, compared with the average 36-cent analyst estimate. EPS in the first quarter amounted to 14 cents, beating the 8 cents analysts had projected. The stock didn’t trade in Europe. To contact the reporters on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net; Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net

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