BLBG: U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise as Japan Expands Stimulus
U.S. stock-index futures climbed, signaling equities may reach a new high, as the Bank of Japan unexpectedly expanded its stimulus program and the country’s pension fund increased its allocation to foreign stocks.
LinkedIn Corp. rose 6.5 percent in premarket trading after third-quarter sales exceeded estimates. GoPro Inc. jumped 17 percent after its prediction for fourth-quarter profit surpassed analysts’ projections. Starbucks Corp. fell 3.8 percent after posting disappointing quarterly revenue. Citigroup Inc. lost 0.7 percent after saying it took a $600 million legal charge.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) futures expiring in December advanced 1.1 percent to 2,009.4 at 7:30 a.m. in New York. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 180 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,294.
“The way markets are reacting, it certainly looks like news of Japan boosting stimulus was unexpected,” Kully Samra, who manages U.K. clients for Charles Schwab Corp. in London, said by phone. His firm oversees about $2.4 trillion. “Japan’s pension fund is increasing allocation to equities and that’s helping markets today. The U.S. economy looks fine, it’s the picture outside the U.S. that was concerning. Hopefully, Japan’s stimulus helps to increase global growth.”
Better-than-forecast economic growth yesterday pushed the S&P 500 to within 0.83 percent of its Sept. 18 all-time high of 2,011.36, suggesting the gain implied by futures may be enough to catapult the index to a record when trading starts today. The gauge fell 7.4 percent in the month ended Oct. 15.
Japan Stimulus
The Bank of Japan raised its annual target for monetary expansion to 80 trillion yen ($724 billion) from as much as 70 trillion yen. Only three of 32 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the increase.
Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund said it will put half its holdings in local and foreign stocks and invest in alternative assets. The world’s biggest pension fund, which manages about 127.3 trillion yen, set allocation targets of 25 percent each for Japanese and overseas equities, up from 12 percent each.
LinkedIn gained 6.5 percent to $216. New business lines including news content boosted third-quarter revenue by 45 percent to $568.3 million. That beat the $557.7 million average forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Profit excluding some costs also beat estimates.
GoPro Jumps
GoPro surged 17 percent to $79.50 after predicting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 65 cents to 69 cents a share. Analysts on average estimated 53 cents. The maker of cameras used in action sports also posted better-than-estimated third-quarter sales and profit, and said it will make a decision about returning cash to shareholders.
Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. rose at least 1 percent in premarket trading, indicating technology stocks may advance.
Starbucks dropped 3.8 percent to $74.37. The world’s biggest coffee-shop chain posted fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $4.18 billion, missing the $4.24 billion average analyst estimate, as competition intensified.
Citigroup lost 0.7 percent to $52.80 after revealing that it’s facing a U.S. criminal probe into its foreign-exchange business. The lender took a legal charge that forced it to restate third-quarter results. The bank increased its legal reserves after discussions with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, according to a person briefed on the talks.
To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Alan Soughley, Trista Kelley