U.S. stock futures rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index near an all-time high, after the European Central Bank unexpectedly cut interest rates and said it will buy asset-backed securities to stimulate growth. Futures on the S&P 500 (SPX) expiring this month added 0.3 percent to 2,004.9 at 8:53 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts rose 35 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,108. “The ECB put a twist on what everyone was thinking, cutting the main rates and deposits, the type of policy easing that’s positive for the market,� Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at New York-based Williams Capital Group LP, said in a phone interview. “It should pump in liquidity and give people a reason to put money to work.� The ECB will start buying securitized debt and covered bonds, potentially easing the flow of bank funding for the region’s faltering economy. The central bank also reduced all three of its main interest rates by 10 basis points, dropping the benchmark rate to 0.05 percent. The cuts come three months after a historic package of stimulus measures and two weeks after Draghi signaled he was ready to act again amid a mounting threat of deflation and rising tensions with Russia. The U.S. equity gauge slipped yesterday, erasing gains after reaching a record, amid conflicting reports about progress on a peace plan for Ukraine. Jobs Data Data today showed applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. were little changed last week as an improving economy prompted businesses to retain staff. Jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 302,000 in the week ended Aug. 30. The median forecast of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 300,000. The total number of people on benefit rolls fell to the lowest level in more than seven years. A private report on payrolls indicated U.S. firms added 204,000 jobs in August, fewer than the 220,000 estimated in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The monthly Labor Department jobs report due tomorrow will show that companies boosted payrolls in August by more than 200,000 for a seventh-straight month, according to a separate Bloomberg survey. To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at jmorgan157@bloomberg.net; Joseph Ciolli in New York at jciolli@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Jeremy Herron, Jeff Sutherland

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