U.S. stock-index futures (SPX) were little changed, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index near a record, after Congressional negotiators reached a budget agreement that will limit spending cuts and reduce the deficit. MasterCard Inc. (MA) rallied 3.6 percent after saying its board of directors approved an 83 percent dividend increase and a 10-for-1 stock split. Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) dropped 1.6 percent after reporting first-quarter profit that trailed estimates. Cisco Systems Inc. lost 1.2 percent after losing a European Union court bid to overturn EU approval of Microsoft Corp.’s 2011 takeover of Skype Technologies SA. Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December gained less than 0.1 percent to 1,803.70 at 8:38 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts rose 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,990. “Global equity markets are performing poorly after strong U.S. data and reports of a U.S. budget resolution bring further attention on the impending Fed taper,� a team led by Jim McCormick, the London-based global head of asset allocation at Barclays Plc, wrote in a note today. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent yesterday after reaching a record 1,808.37 the day before. The benchmark gauge has rallied 26 percent this year and is challenging 2003 for the biggest annual jump since 1998. Budget Compromise Investors are considering when the Federal Reserve, which meets next week, may reduce the pace of its monthly bond buying. Congressional negotiators yesterday agreed to a budget deal that would ease automatic spending cuts by about $60 billion over two years and will reduce the deficit by $20 billion to $23 billion. The budget compromise, which needs to pass both chambers of Congress, doesn’t raise the U.S. debt limit, setting up another potential fiscal showdown after February. Fed officials cited the drag from fiscal policy in their Oct. 30 statement and Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, said in a speech Dec. 9 that U.S. budget uncertainty is also weighing on business hiring and investment decisions. The Federal Open Market Committee will probably start slowing its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases at its Dec. 17-18 meeting, according to 34 percent of economists surveyed Dec. 6 by Bloomberg, an increase from 17 percent in a Nov. 8 survey. Nine of the 35 economists surveyed said the central bank will buy fewer bonds from its January meeting and the remaining 14 predicted that tapering will start in March. MasterCard Dividend MasterCard climbed 3.6 percent to $790.90. The second-biggest bank-card network raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 a share and authorized repurchasing as much as $3.5 billion of stock. Investors who own MasterCard stock on Jan. 9 will get the additional shares on Jan. 21, the Purchase, New York-based company said yesterday. Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. surged 9 percent to $82. Discovery Communications Inc. may make an offer for the owner of HGTV and the Food Network, Variety reported, citing an unidentified person who attended a board meeting yesterday where the idea was discussed. The publication didn’t provide possible terms. Discovery operates cable television channels Animal Planet and TLC. Its shares added 1.2 percent to $86.20. Costco fell 1.6 percent to $118.10. The largest U.S. warehouse-club chain’s profit fell short of estimates even as sales climbed as it offered greater discounts. Fiscal first-quarter sales at stores open more than a year increased 5 percent, excluding changes in gasoline prices and foreign-currency exchange rates. Cisco lost 1.2 percent to $20.96. The company “failed to demonstrate� that the EU was wrong to find the merger in line with the bloc’s internal market, the EU General Court ruled today. The merger “does not restrict competition� in the markets for consumer- and business-video communications, said the court. Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. tumbled 16 percent to $3.60. The drugmaker said that the phase II study of AVP-923, a treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis, did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint.

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