Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures declined, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may trim its steepest weekly advance since July, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said interest rates would rise once the outlook for the economy has “improved sufficiently.” Newmont Mining Corp. fell 1.2 percent amid a report the company may be preparing a hostile bid for Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. and as gold dropped for the first time this week. Marriott International Inc. rose after BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research recommended the hotel operator. Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December lost 0.2 percent to 1,061.7 at 11:14 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.1 percent to 9,733 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures slid 0.4 percent to 1,709.75. The U.S. dollar climbed the most in two months today against the yen after Bernanke said in prepared remarks at a conference in Washington “when the economic outlook has improved sufficiently, we will be prepared to tighten.” “Investors are not only watching out for third-quarter earnings, but now exit strategies are being actively discussed by governments and central banks,” said London-based David Morrison, a market strategist at GFT. “The U.S. is much further away from withdrawing its stimulus than most other countries.” Bernanke’s comments echoed those by Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, who on Oct. 6 said raising interest rates wouldn’t derail the U.S. economic recovery. S&P 500 Even so, the S&P 500 is heading for its biggest weekly gain since July as U.S. service industries grew after 11 months of contraction, jobless claims fell more than forecast and Alcoa Inc. kicked of the third-quarter earnings season with an unexpected profit. Companies on the S&P 500, which has rebounded 57 percent from a 12-year low in March, will report a ninth straight quarter of declining profits, the longest streak since the Great Depression, before returning to growth in the final three months of the year, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show. Newmont fell 1.2 percent to $46.44 in German trading as the price of gold declined and the Australian Financial Review reported the U.S.-based gold producer might be preparing a hostile bid for Newcrest Mining. The newspaper did not say where it got the information. Barrick Gold Corp. lost 1.5 percent to $38.92. Gold dropped in London for the first time this week, paring its biggest weekly advance since April, as a stronger dollar cut demand and some investors sold the metal to lock in gains from its climb to a record. Marriott Marriott added 0.7 percent to $27 after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the biggest U.S. hotel chain to “buy” from “underperform.” “We believe revenues and earnings are bottoming for Marriott, meaning it’s time to own the stock,” analysts wrote in a report. White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers yesterday rejected the notion that the U.S. faces an extended period of below-average growth and high unemployment in the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s. Speaking at a forum in New York organized by Bloomberg LP he said he was “very reluctant to accept the idea that the American economy no longer has the potential to grow rapidly.” A Bloomberg News survey of economists showed that the rebound in U.S. consumer spending, driven by government stimulus, will wane as the unemployment rate surpasses 10 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

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