BLBG:U.S. Stock Futures Little Changed Before Euro-Area Meet
U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, paring earlier losses, before euro-area finance ministers meet to sign off on the latest Greek bailout and discuss crisis-fighting measures in Spain and Portugal.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the second-largest software maker, fell in pre-market trading after Jefferies Group Inc. downgraded its recommendation on the stock. Zoll Medical Corp. (ZOLL) may rise after Asahi Kasei Corp. of Japan agreed to buy the maker of resuscitation devices for about $2.2 billion.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) expiring in June slipped less than 0.1 percent to 1,365.8 at 6:33 a.m. in New York. The contracts dropped as much as 0.4 percent earlier today as weaker-than-estimated Chinese exports and factory-production data deepened concern that growth in the world’s second-largest economy may be slowing. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJ1) lost 1 point to 12,862.
“It’s been a much better start to the year than most investors had expected,” Henrik Drusebjerg, a Copenhagen-based strategist at Nordea Bank AB who helps oversee $230 billion, said in an interview. “What most of us had expected as a return for the whole year has come around in two months. If there is anything indicating that global growth is having problems, people will be very quick to take some profits.”
Sovereign-Debt Crisis
Ministers from the 17 euro-area nations will meet in Brussels today to sign off on the 130 billion-euro ($170 billion) second package for Greece after bondholders agreed last week to take a loss on the country’s debt. They’ll also focus on Spain’s budget-cutting efforts and Portugal’s aid program, underscoring their desire to prevent contagion.
The S&P 500 capped the fourth straight weekly rally on March 9, rising 9 percent in 2012, after stronger-than-forecast data on payroll growth bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy. Options traders are pushing the price of hedging against losses in the U.S. gauge to an almost five-year high versus European equities.
“The news coming out of the U.S. is still pretty good,” said Lawrence Peterman, investment director at Eden Financial Ltd. in London, in a phone interview today. “There is still scope for companies to grow profits, and markets will still do well.”
China had the biggest trade deficit last month in at least 22 years, data showed. The government also reported the weakest January-February factory-production gain since 2009 and retail sales below the median economist estimate.
Oracle, Zoll
Oracle fell 1.5 percent to $29.68 in early New York trading. The shares were cut to hold from buy by Ross MacMillan and Sonya Banerjee, analysts at Jefferies, who cut their 12- month share-price estimate to $32 from $35 and lowered their 2013 profit forecasts, citing “greater challenges” to Oracle’s strategy. The stock has gained 17 percent this year in New York trading.
Zoll may move. Asahi Kasei will pay $93 a share for Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based Zoll Medical, the companies said in a statement today. That’s 24 percent higher than Zoll’s closing price of $75.10 on March 9. Asahi Kasei rose 0.2 percent to 518 yen in Tokyo before the announcement. Zoll hasn’t traded in Europe today.
Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) may be active. The maker of audio equipment for cars and homes may rise 20 percent as more drivers equip their vehicles with satellite navigation displays and voice-controllable communication devices, Barron’s reported. The shares didn’t trade in Europe.
Transportation and industrial shares are diverging in the U.S. The Dow Jones Transportation Average has fallen 3.9 percent from its six-month high on Feb. 3, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 percent. The gauge of 20 shipping companies from FedEx Corp. to United Continental Holdings Inc. peaked before the rest of the market when the technology bubble popped in 2000 and began slipping into a bear market three months before broader benchmark indexes in 2007.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Xydias in London at axydias@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
