U.S. index futures signal stocks to decline as LinkedIn slides
By Bloomberg
U.S. stock-index futures fell, signaling equities will trim a monthly gain, as investors weighed company earnings.
LinkedIn Corp. fell 6.3 percent in premarket trading after attributing a gain in its annual revenue forecast to its acquisition of education website Lynda.com, raising concerns growth is slowing at its main business. Expedia Inc. jumped 8.3 percent after quarterly sales and profit topped estimates. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are among S&P 500 companies reporting results on Friday.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index E-mini contracts expiring in September lost 0.2 percent to 2,099 at 7:15 a.m. in New York. The gauge has risen 2.2 percent in July, poised for its best monthly advance since February, following a drop in the previous period. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 29 points, also 0.2 percent, to 17,657.
“It’s all about earnings, earnings revisions and prospective earnings,” said Frances Hudson, Edinburgh-based global thematic strategist at Standard Life Investments, which oversees $383 billion. “Macro concerns, the Fed’s tightening timetable or China weakness do not seem to be holding the equity markets back significantly.”
About two-thirds of the S&P 500 companies have reported earnings this season, with 74 percent beating profit estimates and half of them topping sales projections. Analysts expect a 4 percent drop in second-quarter earnings, shallower than July 10 calls for a 6.4 percent fall.
Amgen, Synaptics
Among other shares active on corporate news, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. jumped 8.9 percent after a report that the independent bottler of Coke products in Europe is considering a three-way merger with two other peers. Amgen Inc. rose 1.1 percent after its earnings beat projections.
Hanesbrands Inc. slipped 6.6 percent after cutting its annual revenue forecast. Synaptics Inc. plunged 15 percent after the touch-screen technology provider’s quarterly earnings fell short of the lowest analyst estimate.
The S&P 500 is heading for a weekly advance of 1.4 percent. The gauge was little changed on Thursday as better-than- estimated earnings from Mondelez International Inc. offset disappointing results from Facebook Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.
The Federal Reserve is getting ready to increase interest rates after officials this week expressed satisfaction with an improvement in labor markets. Chair Janet Yellen has said the Fed is likely to tighten policy this year should the economy continue to improve in line with her expectations. Economists have put the chance of a September increase at 50 percent.
A final reading of the of the University of Michigan’s index at 10 a.m. in Washington may show consumer sentiment fell in July, according to economists’ forecasts.
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