U.S. Stock Futures Little Changed Before Factory Report

By Namitha Jagadeesh - Mon Apr 02 12:06:26 GMT 2012

U.S. stock-index futures declined as investors awaited a report that may show manufacturing expanded in the worlds biggest economy.

Groupon Inc. sank 10 percent after the company said fourth- quarter sales were lower than previously stated. Avon Products Inc. (AVP) surged 24 percent after Coty Inc. offered to acquire the door-to-door cosmetics seller.

Standard & Poors 500 Index (SPM2) futures expiring in June lost 0.1 percent to 1,401.70 at 8:04 a.m. in New York. The S&P 500 completed its biggest first-quarter rally since 1998 on March 30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,124 today.

Theres a bit of concern that the U.S. economic recovery is starting to even out, and thats reflected in the markets, said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets in London. It really depends on what we get from the manufacturing survey today.

The Institute for Supply Managements factory index -- scheduled for release at 10 a.m. New York time -- climbed to 53 in March from 52.4 in February, according to the average economist forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings above 50 signal growth.

A Commerce Department report at the same time may show that construction spending increased 0.7 percent in February, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The S&P 500 rose 12 percent in the first quarter as economic data surpassed estimates and investors speculated that the euro area would contain its sovereign-debt crisis. The benchmark measure advanced 3.1 percent in March, its fourth- straight monthly increase for the gauges longest streak of monthly gains since 2009.

A report showed that Chinas manufacturing industry expanded last month. The purchasing managers index compiled by Chinas logistics federation and the National Bureau of Statistics rose to 53.1 in March from 51 in February. The gauge has a pattern of rising each March.

Groupon tumbled 10 percent to $16.50 after the largest provider of daily deals online reported a material weakness in its financial controls and said fourth-quarter revenue was lower than it had stated because of higher refunds to merchants.

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U.S. Stock Futures Little Changed Before Factory Report