U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fluctuate as Oil, Metal Producers Drop

By Michael Patterson

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures drifted between gains and losses as expectations the government may unveil plans to shore up the consumer-finance market was offset by a slump in commodity producers.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December fell 0.1 percent to 847.1 at 7:54 a.m. in New York, after gaining as much as 1.4 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.1 percent to 8,373 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures lost 0.4 percent to 1,143. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added less than 0.1 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 3.6 percent as trading resumed in Japan after a holiday yesterday.

The S&P 500 has rallied 13 percent from an 11-year low on Nov. 20 as investors speculated the government will rescue more troubled banks and pass another stimulus package to revive economic growth.

Citigroup Inc., the New York-based bank that got $306 billion of loan guarantees from the government, advanced 1.7 percent to $6.05 in trading before the official open of U.S. exchanges.

The Treasury and the Fed will help fund new loans packaged into securities for sale to investors, two people familiar with the package said. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. New York time, said two weeks ago he wants to spur lending for automobile purchases and college education while also reducing the cost of credit-card debt.

The Conference Board’s index of consumer sentiment probably held at 38 for a second month, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey before today’s report. That’s the lowest level since monthly records began in 1967. Another report from S&P/Case-Shiller may show a record drop in home prices in the 12 months ended in September.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.