Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after a second weekly gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index pushed it towards an all-time high, as investors awaited this week’s corporate earnings reports.

E-mini contracts on the S&P 500 expiring in June fell 0.1 percent to 2,093.5 at 6:19 a.m. in New York, paring earlier losses of as much as 0.3 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,961.

While the S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent last week, it is still among the worst-performing developed-market indexes in 2015. With valuations near their highest level in more than five years, investors are looking to corporate profits for further clues on the strength of the U.S. bull market that hasn’t seen a 10 percent correction since 2011.

“We know this earnings season is not going to look good,” said Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “The first quarter’s economic slowdown and stronger dollar has definitely put pressure on profits. The question now will be whether expectations have been lowered enough. With valuations proving to be another headwind, we don’t expect very high returns for U.S. equities this year.”

Concern that a stronger dollar and tumbling oil prices are hurting earnings have held back American equities this year. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Johnson & Johnson and Intel Corp. are among the 36 S&P 500 members reporting financial results this week. Analysts have slashed their profit projections, predicting a slump through September. Earnings probably fell 5.6 percent in the first quarter, they predict.

Rate Increase

Investors are also trying to gauge when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, with recent economic releases missing projections by the most in six years. March reports are due this week on retail sales, industrial production, and housing starts. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said that while rates will probably rise this year, any decision depends on economic data. Fed members next meet on April 28-29 to discuss monetary policy.

Among stocks moving on corporate news, Qualcomm Inc. added 3.4 percent in early New York trading as the Wall Street Journal reported that investor Jana Partners LLC has called for the company to spin off its chip unit, as well as cut costs and accelerate stock buybacks.

Netflix Inc. rose 2.4 percent. The online subscription video service is seeking investor approval to increase its authorized share count to 5 billion from 170 million, according to a regulatory filing late Friday. The move could precede a possible a stock split.