By Daniela Silberstein
Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures drifted between gains and losses as forecasts from Salesforce.com Inc. and Autodesk Inc. missed analysts’ estimates, offsetting speculation a report may show U.S. housing starts rose.
Salesforce.com, the largest seller of Internet-based customer-management software, and Autodesk sank more than 5 percent in German trading. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest oil company, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. increased with crude and metals prices.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring next month slipped less than 0.1 percent to 1,107.20 as of 9:44 a.m. in London, having earlier gained as much as 1 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added less than 0.1 percent to 10,401. Nasdaq-100 Index futures were unchanged at 1,808.75.
The S&P 500 has jumped 64 percent from a 12-year low in March as a four-quarter contraction in the world’s largest economy ended. The eight-month rally has pushed valuations to about 22.3 times its companies reported earnings, the highest level since 2002, weekly data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“It’s a tug of war between the ones forecasting a further rally and the ones expecting a correction,” said Rudolf Buxtorf, who manages about $114 million at RBS Coutts Bank in Zurich. “The debate is whether this upward movement is sustainable. The recovery since March has gone far beyond what was expected.”
U.S. stocks yesterday gained for a third day as a rebound in metal prices boosted commodity producers, overshadowing a smaller-than-forecast increase in industrial production.
Earnings Analysis
Per-share earnings topped estimates at 370 of the 446 S&P 500 companies that have released third-quarter earnings, a record in Bloomberg data going back to 1993, even as profits slumped for a record ninth straight quarter. BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., Chico’s FAS Inc. and PetSmart Inc. are among companies scheduled to report earnings today.
Builders in October probably broke ground on U.S. houses at the fastest pace in 11 months, and consumer prices held below the Federal Reserve’s long-range goal, economists said reports today may show.
Housing starts rose 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 600,000, the most since November 2008, according to the median forecast of 77 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Commerce Department’s report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. A report from the Labor Department at the same time may show the cost of living climbed 0.2 percent for a second month.
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com sank 5.1 percent to $62.24. The company forecast fourth-quarter profit of 14 cents to 15 cents a share. Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn 15 cents, according to Bloomberg survey.
Autodesk dropped 8.3 percent to $24.77. The biggest maker of engineering-design software projected fourth-quarter profit excluding some items of 24 cents a share at most, trailing the average analyst estimate of 25 cents.
Exxon added 0.5 percent to $75.42. Crude advanced for a third day in New York after an industry report showed a decline in crude stockpiles in the U.S., the largest energy consumer.
Freeport-McMoRan, the world’s biggest publicly traded copper producer, rose 0.6 percent to $85.91. Copper futures in London, New York and Shanghai rallied to the highest level in 14 months as a decline in the dollar boosted the appeal of raw materials as alternative investments.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net.
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