U.S. stock-index futures swung between gains and losses after Intel Corp. said it faces a “fragile global economic environment” and Citigroup Inc. said profit at its China unit almost doubled. Citigroup climbed 1.7 percent after the New York-based lender said an increase in loans and the introduction of new services boosted its results in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Intel Corp. dropped 4.7 percent after the biggest chipmaker said first-quarter profit fell 55 percent because of slowing computer demand and signaled sales won’t recover in the current period. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June lost 0.2 percent to 838.8 at 7:47 a.m. in New York after rising as much as 0.4 percent and retreating as much as 0.9 percent earlier. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 2 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 7,882 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures fell 0.7 percent to 1,315. U.S. stocks yesterday halted a three-day advance after the government reported unexpected declines in retail sales and producer prices and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sold shares to boost capital. “Yesterday’s retail sales confirmed that the economic environment is still uncertain,” said Marco Huwiler, a strategist at Clariden Leu AG in Zurich, which manages the equivalent of $120 billion. “Intel’s results confirm that computer and electronics are the first to suffer when people cut down spending.” Rebound From Low The S&P 500 has rebounded 24 percent from a 12-year low on March 9 as lenders from Citigroup to JPMorgan Chase & Co. said they made money in the first two months of 2009 and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced plans to finance as much as $1 trillion in purchases of financial firms’ distressed assets. Intel dropped 4.7 percent to $15.25 in U.S. pre-market trading. Sales of personal-computer processors likely bottomed out in the first quarter after manufacturers worked through their stockpiles of parts, Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini said. While the worst of the slump is “probably now behind us,” Intel isn’t ready to predict growth this quarter, he added. Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the second-largest maker of computer processors, retreated 1.1 percent to $3.59 in Germany. Nvidia Corp., the second-biggest maker of graphic chips, dropped 4.6 percent to $11.18. Earnings Companies from Citigroup to General Electric Co. will follow Intel with earnings reports this week. Analysts estimate that profits at S&P 500 companies decreased for the seventh straight quarter in the January to March period, the longest stretch of declines since at least the Great Depression. Citigroup added 1.7 percent to $4.08 in New York. The bank said full-year profit at its China unit climbed 95 percent on loans growth and new products in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. CSX Corp. climbed 5.6 percent to $29.99. The third-largest U.S. railroad company reported of a first-quarter net profit of $246 million, or 62 cents a shares, exceeding the 51-cent average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Industrial output probably fell 0.9 percent in March, economists said before the Federal Reserve’s report on industrial production due at 9:15 a.m. in Washington. Figures from the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. are expected to show consumer prices rose at the slowest pace this year as companies used a wide range of means to trim unwanted stockpiles. At the same time, a report from the New York Fed may show manufacturing in the state is shrinking. ‘Volatility Bubble’ U.S. equities were lowered to “underweight” at HSBC Holdings Plc, as the brokerage recommended investors buy into stocks in Asia, emerging markets and Europe to take advantage of falling volatility. “What we’ve labeled the ‘volatility bubble’ may be about to deflate at last,” Kevin Gardiner, HSBC’s London-based chief equity strategist, wrote in a report. “The non-U.S. markets may do better if risk appetite revives.” The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is called, fell to a six-month low on April 9. The index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500. EBay Inc. gained 2.2 percent to $14.70. The most-visited U.S. e-commerce site is planning an initial public offering for its Skype Internet-calling unit, which the company bought in 2005 for $2.6 billion. International Paper Co. increased 6 percent to $7.65. The world’s largest maker of cardboard boxes was raised to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank AG, which cited “very modest valuation along most metrics and hints of a bottom in cyclical challenges.”

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