BLBG: U.S. Index Futures Rise as Growth Concerns Spur Fed Bets
U.S. stock-index futures climbed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posted its biggest weekly drop in two years, amid speculation slowing global growth may cause the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December rose 0.2 percent to 1,898.9 at 8:15 a.m. in New York, reversing earlier losses of as much as 0.7 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,460. Nasdaq 100 Index futures were little changed.
“I believe there is a lot of unwarranted fear out there that is causing many to react first and think later,” said Patrick Spencer, head of U.S. equity sales at Robert W. Baird & Co. in London, in a phone interview. “I still firmly believe the market is heading higher in the fourth quarter. The European situation will get resolved with more aggressive quantitative easing and more structural reforms.”
S&P 500 (SPX) futures are trading one point above 1,897.4. The contract closed at that level on Aug. 7, a two-month low at the time, after reaching 1,892.9 intraday.
A rout in global equities wiped $1.54 trillion from shares last week amid growing concern of an international slowdown. The S&P 500 has fallen 5.2 percent from its Sept. 18 record as the Federal Reserve contemplates when to raise interest rates. The U.S. equity gauge retreated 3.1 percent last week, the most since 2012. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 13 percent on Friday.
“Volatility has returned to the stock market,” Spencer said. “More volatility has proved to be a buying opportunity in U.S. stocks.”
Fed Warning
Fed officials said over the weekend that the threat from an international slowdown may lead to rate increases being delayed. The remarks highlighted mounting concern over the improving U.S. economy’s ability to withstand foreign weakness and a strengthening dollar.
The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global growth last week and said the euro area faces the risk of a recession. The IMF also said that the chances of equity losses in 2014 have risen and stock valuations may be “frothy.” Three months earlier, the Fed said prices were stretched for stocks in spheres such as social media and biotechnology.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said last week that there are signs the euro-area’s economic growth is slowing and policy makers must lift inflation from an “excessively low” level.
Earnings Season
Investors are also watching earnings reports after Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicked off the U.S. results season last week. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., BlackRock Inc. and Google Inc. are among S&P 500 members posting results this week. Profit for companies in the index probably rose 4.8 percent and sales gained 4.2 percent in the third quarter, analysts projected.
“Some of the moves we saw last week in individual names were breathtaking in terms of volatility,” Walter Todd, who oversees about $1 billion as chief investment officer for Greenwood, South Carolina-based Greenwood Capital Associates LLC, said in a phone interview. “I’d definitely like to see it stabilize a little bit. The catalyst for moving higher will be earnings that aren’t necessarily good, but just not as bad as people are expecting.”
Atlas Pipeline
Atlas Pipeline Partners LP rose 13 percent to $37.94. Targa Resources Partners LP agreed to buy the company for $5.8 billion, including debt, creating one of the largest diversified master-limited partnerships.
Splunk Inc. climbed 2.4 percent to $54.49. William Blair & Co LLC upgraded the maker of software that helps businesses analyze Internet data to outperform, similar to a buy rating, from market perform.
GenCorp Inc. slipped 2.9 percent to $14.73 after reporting third-quarter sales of $419.5 million, missing estimates of $437 million. The producer of systems for the aerospace and defense industries said its results included a pretax charge of $9.8 million relating to a convertible debenture and a pretax contract loss of $17.5 million.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at jmorgan157@bloomberg.net; Joseph Ciolli in New York at jciolli@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net Jeff Sutherland, Alan Soughley
