U.S. Stock Futures Rebound; Halliburton Drops on Middle East March 29, 2011, 5:43 AM EDT
By Sarah Jones
March 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock futures climbed, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may rebound from yesterday’s late selloff.
Halliburton Co. retreated 1.3 percent after the world’s second-largest oilfield-services provider said disruptions in the Middle East will “severely” hurt results.
S&P 500 futures expiring in June rose 0.1 percent to 1,303.9 at 10:39 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.1 percent to 12,128 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 0.2 percent to 2,300.75.
“There are still plenty of worries, but the market seems to be taking it in its stride,” said Lawrence Peterman, investment director at Eden Financial Ltd. in London. “The U.S. economy seems to be a little bit patchy, but going in the right direction.”
The benchmark S&P 500 yesterday erased its gains in the final 20 minutes of trading after Japanese officials found plutonium particles outside the plant north of Tokyo. That means the nuclear fuel in at least one of the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi facility has degraded, International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director General of Safety Denis Flory said at a press briefing in Vienna yesterday.
Trading volume on U.S. exchanges totaled 5.96 billion shares, the lowest since Dec. 31.
Real-Estate Prices
Residential real-estate prices probably dropped in January by the most in more than a year, raising the risk that home sales will keep slowing, economists said before a report due at 9 a.m. in New York today. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 3.2 percent from January 2010, the biggest 12-month decrease since November 2009, according to the median forecast of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Another report may show consumer confidence declined in March as gasoline prices climbed. The New York-based Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge, due at 10 a.m. local time, fell to 65 from 70.4 in March, according to the median forecast. Estimates ranged from 59 to 72.
Halliburton slid 1.3 percent to $47.28 in German trading after the oilfield services provider said disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa will “severely” cut first-quarter results, reducing earnings by 3 cents to 4 cents a share. The company forecast seasonal declines from year-end product sales and weather in the first quarter.
– Editors: Will Hadfield, Jason Carey
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
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