U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after benchmark equity gauges closed at record levels yesterday, as investors awaited reports on employment and factory orders. Rackspace Hosting Inc. jumped 9.5 percent in early New York trading after TechCrunch reported the company may go private. Bank of America Corp. advanced 1.2 percent as Deutsche Bank AG advised investors to buy the stock. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. lost 1.4 percent after Barclays Plc cut its rating on the drugmaker to the equivalent of hold. GoPro Inc. (GPRO) fell 3.7 percent, signaling the maker of wearable cameras may post its first drop in regular trading since its initial public offering last week. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in September rose 0.1 percent to 1,967.5 at 7:13 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,889. The S&P 500 and Dow reached records yesterday, with the 30-member Dow rising within two points of 17,000 in intraday trades. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (TRAN) also jumped to an all-time high, while the Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies briefly touched a record. “Markets are enjoying what might be the last element of very accommodative monetary policy from the Fed and other central banks,� Peter Dixon, a London-based global equities economist at Commerzbank AG, said by telephone. “There’s nothing immediately out there that’s going to derail the economic outlook. It looks favorable but we would urge some caution. Equity markets look fairly well bid at this stage.� Equities have rallied since the S&P 500 reached a two-month low in April as the European Central Bank began preparations for an asset-purchase plan and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen pledged to keep interest rates low for a prolonged period. Faster Hiring A report from the ADP Research Institute at 8:15 a.m. New York time may show companies hired 205,000 employees in June, compared with an increase of 179,000 the previous month, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The private report precedes the Labor Department’s payrolls data tomorrow. A separate release at 10 a.m. may show factory orders in the world’s biggest economy fell 0.3 percent in May, following a 0.7 percent gain in April, according to a Bloomberg survey. Rackspace rallied 9.5 percent to $36.95. The provider of cloud-computing services has been negotiating with a private-equity firm to borrow capital for a deal to go private, TechCrunch reported, citing an unidentified source. The deal could be announced as soon a this week, according to the news website. The San Antonio, Texas-based company hired Morgan Stanley last month to seek strategic options. Bank of America advanced 1.2 percent to $15.78. Deutsche Bank upgraded its recommendation for the second-biggest U.S. lender to buy from hold. 3D Systems Corp. rose rose 0.9 percent to $64. The maker of three-dimensional printers surged 6.1 percent to $63.46 yesterday, the highest since March 10, after canceling an appearance at Pacific Crest Securities conference in August. The cancellation may be stoking takeover speculation, Angelo Zino, an equity analyst from S&P Capital IQ in New York, said. Bristol-Myers declined 1.4 percent to $47.45. The New York-based company was cut to equal weight from overweight at Barclays. GoPro lost 3.7 percent to $47. The maker of wearable cameras surged 20 percent to $48.80 yesterday, doubling its IPO price in a week. The company’s market value is now $6 billion, compared with $2.96 billion in its IPO. Harley-Davidson Inc. retreated 0.9 percent to $69.72 after Raymond James Financial Inc. lowered its recommendation on the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker to market perform, the equivalent of hold, from strong buy. To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang in London at ihwang7@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Srinivasan Sivabalan

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