U.S. stock-index futures gained, after equities posted the biggest weekly drop since August, as investors gauged the outlook for stimulus before a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that starts tomorrow. American International Group Inc. rose 2.5 percent after agreeing to sell its plane-leasing unit to AerCap Holdings NV for $5 billion. Sprint Corp. added 3.6 percent after a report said the phone carrier is considering a bid for T-Mobile US Inc. Cirrus Logic (CRUS) Inc. dropped 3.6 percent after Oppenheimer & Co. downgraded the shares. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March added 0.6 percent to 1,778.6 at 8:34 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 90 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,791. “The Fed meeting tomorrow will be the big catalyst for markets, after which investors will start looking ahead to the new year,� Robert Royle, who helps oversee $21 billion as manager of the North American Trust at Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP in London, said by phone. “We don’t expect huge moves going into the year end, unless we see a big surprise from the Fed. Investors will be quite happy if there’s no tapering announced at the December meeting.� The S&P 500 (SPX) last week retreated 1.7 percent, the biggest decline since Aug. 30, amid concern that improving economic data will prompt the Fed to cut stimulus. Policy makers will probably start reducing their $85 billion of monthly bond purchases at the meeting that starts tomorrow, according to 34 percent of economists surveyed Dec. 6 by Bloomberg, up from 17 percent in a Nov. 8 poll. Data Watch Fed policy makers have been scrutinizing data to determine whether economic growth is robust enough to withstand the withdrawal of some monetary support. Data today showed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index rose less than forecast in December. A report at 9:15 a.m. New York time may show industrial production in the world’s biggest economy rose 0.6 percent in November, following a 0.1 percent drop the previous month, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Equity futures added to gains today after euro-area manufacturing reached a 31-month high in December, led by Germany, a survey from London-based Markit Economics showed. Data last week indicated U.S. retail sales rose more than forecast last month and job openings climbed to a five-year high in October. Volatility Increase Three rounds of Fed bond buying, also known as quantitative easing, have helped propel the S&P 500 to a 162 percent rally from a 12-year low in 2009. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index surged 14 percent to 15.76 last week. The gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX has risen 29 percent from a Nov. 15 low. AIG rose 2.5 percent to $50.95. The insurer will sell to AerCap all of International Lease Finance Corp. for $3 billion in cash and 97.6 million shares, the Dutch company said in a statement today. The deal , which is expected to close in the second quarter of next year, gives AerCap control of the second-largest aircraft lessor, with a portfolio of almost 1,000 planes. Sprint jumped 3.6 percent to $8.73. Sprint, the third-largest U.S. carrier, is studying antitrust concerns and could push ahead with a T-Mobile bid in the first half of next year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Time Warner Cable Inc. gained 0.8 percent to $132.40. Cablevision Systems Corp. may get backing from private-equity firms to make a bid for parts of Time Warner Cable, the New York Post reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Cirrus Logic, which supplies audio chips to Apple Inc., declined 3 percent to $19 after Oppenheimer cut its rating on the stock to underperform from market perform, citing a lack of new features and functions in the products it supplies to Apple, its biggest customer. Twitter Inc. retreated 1.7 percent to $58 after Wells Fargo & Co. downgraded the stock to underperform from market perform. To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net; Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net

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