U.S. stock-index futures advanced, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to within two points below a record, as investors weighed earnings by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Apple Inc. Microsoft gained 2.3 percent in premarket trading after fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates and the company said its Nokia handset business will break even in two years. Apple was little changed after reporting a drop in iPad demand and projecting third-quarter revenue below analysts’ predictions. Juniper Networks Inc. declined 5.4 percent as its financial forecasts trailed expectations. Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in September added 0.2 percent to 1,978.8 at 7:31 a.m. in New York. The equity gauge rose yesterday after inflation data signaled the Federal Reserve won’t be compelled to raise interest rates in the near future. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts climbed 20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,053 today. Investors awaited a report on the number of Americans who sought to buy a home in the week ended July 18 after the Mortgage Bankers Association’s index fell for the fourth time in five weeks. A report yesterday showed that sales of previously owned houses increased in June to an eight-month high. Thirty seven companies on the S&P 500 (SPX) including PepsiCo Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Boeing Co. and Facebook Inc. will post their earnings today. Of the members of the gauge that have reported results so far, 77 percent have exceeded analysts’ estimates for profit and 67 percent have beaten revenue projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Microsoft, Apple Microsoft rose 2.3 percent to $45.84. The software maker posted fourth-quarter revenue of $23.38 billion, beating analysts’ estimates for $23.01 billion. Profit missed projections because of items related to its acquisition of Nokia Oyj’s mobile business. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said the unit is on track to break even on an operating basis in 2016. Apple traded little changed at $94.85, erasing an earlier drop in premarket New York trading. Sales of iPad in its third accounting quarter dropped 9 percent, offset by a 13 percent increase in iPhone sales and an 18 percent jump in Mac sales. The world’s most valuable company projected revenue of $37 billion to $40 billion in the current quarter ending in September, below the $40.6 billion estimated by analysts. With bigger-screen handsets in development, Apple said shoppers are delaying purchases, which will weigh on sales. Yet, rather than encouraging them to buy sooner, the company highlighted its pipeline of products and promised a busy fall season for their introductions. Juniper (JNPR) dropped 5.4 percent to $23.49 after its third-quarter revenue and profit forecasts missed estimates. The network-infrastructure company said sales in the current period will be $1.15 billion to $1.2 billion. Analysts projected an average of $1.26 billion. Revenue is being hurt as some telecommunications carriers delay equipment purchases for the rest of 2014, Juniper said. Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) tumbled 9.9 percent to $43.40 in early New York trading after saying it expects sales to remain little changed or fall as much as 4 percent in the quarter through September, compared with the April-June period. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Hirtenstein in London at ahirtenstein@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Srinivasan Sivabalan

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