U.S. stock futures fell, suggesting the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend a 12-year low, on speculation a report will show the economy lost more jobs last month than at any time since 1949. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index capped its fourth weekly drop, while European shares fluctuated. General Motors Corp. decreased 2.3 percent after saying costs to cut its Swedish Saab Automobile unit loose may exceed $1 billion. Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest gold producer, Alcoa Inc. and BHP Billiton Ltd. advanced more than 2 percent in Europe on higher metals prices. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring this month slipped 0.3 percent to 683.90 at 10:40 a.m. in London after the index closed at the lowest level since September 1996. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.4 percent to 6,602 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures lost 0.6 percent to 1,076.25. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slid 0.4 percent after earlier climbed as much as 0.5 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.2 percent today as Honda Motor Co. fell. U.S. stocks sank yesterday after Moody’s Investors Service said it cut JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s credit rating and China quelled speculation the government will add to its stimulus plan. The S&P 500 is headed for its fourth straight weekly decline as the worsening recession, a third government rescue for Citigroup Inc. and dividend cuts at companies from General Electric Co. to JPMorgan have helped drag the measure down 24 percent this year. “The payrolls and unemployment numbers will be strongly in focus to see whether the negative trends will flatten somewhat,” said Andreas Nigg, who helps oversee about $39 billion as a fund manager at Vontobel Asset Management in Zurich. Worsening Recession More than $1.6 trillion has been erased from U.S. equities since Jan. 20 as mounting bank losses and rising unemployment convinced investors the recession is getting worse. The Dow average has fallen 20 percent since Inauguration Day, the fastest drop under a new president in at least 90 years, as investors speculated Barack Obama’s stimulus measures won’t revive the economy anytime soon. Employers probably cut payrolls by 650,000 in February, a plunge that may force further reductions in spending and send more Americans into bankruptcy, economists said before a report scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The jobless rate rose to a 25-year high of 7.9 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. GM declined 2.3 percent to $1.80. The largest U.S. automaker said it may lose more than $1 billion separating from Saab, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month. GM has said it will only support Saab until Jan. 1, while Sweden’s government has said it won’t provide any aid to Saab until a long-term owner has been found. Barrick added 2 percent to $29.41 in Germany as gold climbed for a second day in Asia. Alcoa, the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, rose 4 percent to $5.47, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. increased 1 percent to $31.96. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, climbed 5.1 percent to 1,163 pence. Copper, nickel and tin all rose on the London Metal Exchange.

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