US stock index futures retreat amid Fed’s statements

U.S. stock-index futures slumped as investors speculated on the Federal Reserve’s future monetary policy amid signs the global economy is strengthening. Feds presidents statements are in focus of investors attention as they might shed some light of when the central bank would taper its bond purchasing program.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in September fell 0.1% to 1,688.4 at 12:40 a.m. in London. The benchmark index has slipped 0.9% since closing at an all-time high on Aug. 8. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 16 points, or 0.1%, to 15,395.

“The U.S. markets are in a limbo at the moment during the summer period,” Didier Duret, chief investment officer for ABN Amro Private Banking, which manages 165 billion euros ($220 billion), said by phone for Bloomberg. “It’s had a great run and volumes aren’t particularly large. Many people are away and, by September, people will start investing with 2014 in mind.”

Data today showed the Eurozone’s economy emerged from a record-long recession in the second quarter, led by Germany and France, amid the first sustained period of financial-market calm since the start of the debt crisis.

Gross domestic product expanded 0.3% after a 0.3% contraction in the first quarter, the European Union’s statistics office said. That exceeded the median estimate of 0.2% growth in a Bloomberg survey of 41 economists.

Nearing the end of earning season, Cree retreated 15% to $64.46. The maker of energy-efficient lighting products predicted earnings in the first quarter will be no more than 41 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 2 cents. The company also posted fourth-quarter profit that matched projections and sales that fell short of forecasts.

Cisco Systems Inc., Macys and Deere & Co. are all due to report later today. Dow industrials component Cisco is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $12.41 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. Macy’s is forecast to post earnings of 78 cents a share in the second quarter on revenue of $6.26 billion.
Deere is estimated to report a profit of $2.17 a share on revenue of $9.18 billion in the fiscal third quarter.