BLBG: U.S. Stock-Index Futures Little Changed After S&P’s Gain
U.S. stock futures were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed at a record, as investors considered corporate deals and awaited reports on manufacturing and home purchases.
Integrys Energy Group Inc. jumped 15 percent after Wisconsin Energy Corp. agreed to pay $5.7 billion for the company. Micros Systems rose 2.9 percent as Oracle Corp. offered to buy it for a $68 a share. General Electric Co. was little changed after clinching the $17 billion purchase of Alstom SA’s energy assets, its biggest acquisition ever.
Futures on the S&P 500 (SPX) expiring in September gained 0.1 percent to 1,954.1 at 8:32 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slipped 5 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 16,853 today.
“We will get some important pieces of data in the U.S. with the PMI manufacturing and the home sales,” Ion-Marc Valahu, a co-founder and fund manager at Clairinvest in Geneva, wrote in an e-mail. “This will be closely watched. Investors are hoping that the U.S. data will show an improvement from prior months.”
The S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent last week, the most in two months, closing at an all-time high of 1,962.87. The Dow average also ended the week at a record. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said accommodative monetary policy, rising property and equity prices and the improving global economy should lead to above-trend growth.
Yellen emphasized the need to put more Americans back to work and downplayed concerns about asset-price bubbles and incipient inflation.
Data Watch
A Markit Economics report at 9:45 a.m. New York time will show a measure of U.S. manufacturing growth declined to 56 in June from 56.4 in May, according the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. A reading above 50 signals expansion.
A National Association of Realtors release at 10 a.m. will show that sales of previously-owned U.S. homes climbed to a 4.74 million annualized rate in May from a 4.65 million rate the previous month, according to economist projections.
Micros climbed 2.9 percent to $67.68. Oracle agreed buy the company for about $4.6 billion as Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison seeks to reignite slowing growth by adding software for hotels and restaurants.
Integrys Energy soared 15 percent to $70. Wisconsin Energy said it will acquire Integrys for $5.7 billion in cash and stock to nearly double its number of customers and increase revenue.
GE was little changed at $27. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt, approaching 13 years on the job, prevailed over a bid from Siemens AG and initial French opposition. Buying Alstom’s gas-turbine operations and creating joint ventures in the steam turbine, renewable energy and electrical-transmission businesses will help his push to return GE to its industrial roots.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. rose 5.4 percent to $42.42 as the yoga-clothing maker said it is working to improve its product line and improve value for shareholders.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at jmorgan157@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Jeremy Herron, Alan Soughley