U.S. stock-index futures advanced along with euro-area equities after a European Central Bank official said it plans to bring forward asset purchases. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Urban Outfitters fell in early trading after posting first-quarter earnings that disappointed investors. E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June added 0.3 percent to 2,130.75 at 7:30 a.m. in New York. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 50 points to 18,309. ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said the central bank plans to frontload bond buying in May and June before an expected low-liquidity period in the summer. The gain in futures suggests U.S. equities will extend all-time highs reached yesterday, helped by merger activity, an advance in Apple Inc. and higher bond yields that sent banks rallying. “The lower rates for longer will stay as the status quo,� said Daniel Weston, Munich-based chief investment officer at Aimed Capital GmbH. “I’m long bonds and long equities. I’m on that side of the trade where central banks’ buying bonds will keep interest rates low. And on lower interest rates bringing higher stock markets -- I expect that to continue as well.� Data on the American housing market today will help investors seek clues on the economy and the timing of a rate increase. A release at 8:30 a.m. in Washington may show housing starts rose at a 9.6 percent annual pace in April, from 2 percent the previous month. Applications for new-home construction gained 2.1 percent after declining in March, economists forecast. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April meeting will be released tomorrow. Take-Two Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. rallied 5.4 percent in early New York trading. The maker of the Grand Theft Auto video game reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on the strength of its shoot ’em up titles. Wal-Mart fell 2.5 percent after the world’s largest retailer posted earnings that missed analysts’ targets after currency fluctuations ate into profit. Urban Outfitters Inc. tumbled 15 percent after profit and sales fell short of analysts’ projections. The retailer was cut to the equivalent of hold at Oppeneheimer & Co. and Piper Jaffray Cos. MBIA Inc. sunk 8.7 percent in Germany after Warburg Pincus LLC, the largest holder of MBIA’s stock, said it will reduce its stake by more than half.

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