U.S. stock futures rose, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may recoup some of yesterday’s drop, before reports on home prices and consumer confidence that may provide clues about the strength of the economic recovery. Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, gained 7.1 percent after fourth-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates. Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, rose 0.8 percent after introducing a tablet computer to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad. American Capital Agency Corp. retreated 5.8 percent after the real-estate investment trust said it plans to issue new shares. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December rose 0.2 percent to 1,139.4 at 8:30 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 0.2 percent to 10,769, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 0.4 percent to 2,015. “With home prices, stabilization is what everybody is looking for,” said Tom Wirth, senior investment officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co., which manages $1.5 billion in Elmira, New York. “Consumer confidence is a lagging indicator with respect to how the market is doing. The market has been higher in recent weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if consumer confidence comes in slighter better than expected.” Futures erased earlier losses as three people with knowledge of the transactions said European central banks bought Irish government debt after the yield on the nation’s two-year notes surged to the highest level since Bloomberg began collecting the data in 2003. Anglo Irish Bank Corp.’s bailout may cost Ireland’s government more than 35 billion euros ($47 billion), S&P credit analyst Trevor Cullinan said in an interview broadcast by Dublin’s RTE Radio today, exceeding the rating company’s previous estimate. ‘Debt Concerns’ “Sovereign debt concerns continue to hurt investor sentiment,” said Daniel Redfern, a fund manager at Vontobel Asset Management Ltd. in Zurich. “Especially after Standard & Poor’s said the cost of the Anglo Irish Bank recapitalization could exceed its 35 billion-euro earlier estimate.” The S&P 500 has surged 8.9 percent in September, heading for the biggest monthly gain since April 2009, as signs of improving demand for capital goods, technology products and consumer items eased concern the economic rebound is slowing. September is historically the worst month for the gauge, with losses averaging 1.2 percent since 1928. Property values in 20 U.S. cities increased 3.1 percent in July from the same month last year, less than the 4.2 percent gain in the 12 months to June, according to the median forecast of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Home price data from S&P/Case-Shiller are scheduled to be released at 9 a.m. Washington time. Consumer Confidence The Conference Board in New York will issue its consumer confidence figure for September at 10 a.m. Forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg ranged from 48 to 55, with a median of 52.1, after an August reading of 53.5. Walgreen advanced 7.1 percent to $32.52. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings were 53 cents excluding items such as costs related to the Duane Reade acquisition, beating by 4 cents the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Research In Motion climbed 0.8 percent to $48.70 after it unveiled its BlackBerry PlayBook, a move to add a fresh source of revenue as BlackBerry sales growth slows in the U.S. American Capital Agency fell 5.8 percent to $26.36 after saying it plans to offer 10 million new shares. Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. climbed 4.3 percent to $31.94 after it agreed to buy Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, a closely held U.S. generic-drug maker, for about $1.2 billion in cash from private-equity firm Apax Partners LLP. To contact the reporters on this story: Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net; Adam Ewing in Stockholm at aewing5@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

Source