U.S. stock futures dropped as a gauge of euro-area manufacturing and services unexpectedly fell in February and China’s factory output shrank for the fourth month. Dell Inc. (DELL) fell 5.7 percent in German trading after its first-quarter sales forecast missed analyst estimates. DealerTrack Holdings Inc. (TRAK) tumbled 9.8 percent after it forecast 2012 revenue that missed projections. La-Z-Boy Inc. (LZB) rose 2.5 percent after third-quarter revenue beat expectations. Futures (SPH2) on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March fell 0.1 percent to 1,358.7 at 6:21 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge has still rallied 8.4 percent this year on optimism the U.S. economy is recovering and the euro area’s debt crisis will be contained. The Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday topped 13,000 for the first time since 2008, in intraday trading. Futures on the Dow lost 11 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 12,934. “It’s not really what you’d call a very noisy day on the markets� as “there isn’t any news compared to what we’ve had in the last couple of days with regard to Greece,� said Peter Dixon, a global equities economist at Commerzbank AG in London. Sales of previously owned U.S. houses probably rose in January to the highest level since May 2010, economists said before a report today. Purchases climbed 1.1 percent to a 4.66 million annual rate from a 4.61 million pace in December, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Euro-Area Economy European services and manufacturing output unexpectedly shrank this month as the euro-area economy struggles to rebound from a contraction in the fourth quarter. A euro-area composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries dropped to 49.7 from 50.4 in January, London-based Markit Economics said in an initial estimate released today. Economists had forecast a reading of 50.5, according to the median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. China’s manufacturing shrank for a fourth month in February, a preliminary report suggests. The flash reading of 49.7 of an index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today compares with a final 48.8 in January. A number below 50 indicates a contraction. We had a fairly disappointing set of data from the PMIs. That has dampened market sentiment. China manufacturing data is up marginally, but it’s still in negative territory,’’ said Dixon. Dell fell 5.7 percent to $17.16 in German trading after the third-largest maker of personal computers said yesterday after market close that first-quarter revenue will decrease 7 percent to $14.9 billion. That trailed the average $15.1 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Brightpoint Inc. (CELL), a wholesaler of mobile phones, dropped 4.4 percent to $9.56 in Germany after reducing its forecast for adjusted earnings per share. DealerTrack, a software maker for car dealerships, tumbled 9.8 percent to $28.14 after it forecast revenue in 2012 of no more than $372 million, missing analysts’ average projection of $380 million. La-Z-Boy, the maker of living room recliners, climbed 2.5 percent to $14.79 after posting third-quarter sales of $316.5 million, exceeding an average estimate of $307.3 million in a Bloomberg News survey. Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (BRCD), a maker of switches for data-storage networks, rose 4 percent to $5.72 after the first-quarter revenue of $561 million beat analyst estimates of $542 million. -- Editors: Srinivasan Sivabalan, Andrew Rummer To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net

Source