U.S. Stock-Index Futures Gain as Italy Sells Debt

By Tom Stoukas - Dec 28, 2011 7:27 PM GMT+0700

U.S. stock futures gained, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rise for a sixth day, as declining borrowing costs at an auction of Italian bonds eased concern about Europe’s debt crisis.

Google Inc. (GOOG) advanced 0.7 percent after a report that its social-networking service Google+ is adding 625,000 users a day. Citigroup Inc. increased 0.6 percent as a court agreed to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to delay a suit against the bank.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March rose 0.3 percent to 1,263.6 at 7:23 a.m. in New York, having earlier retreated as much as 0.4 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,247.

Italy sold 9 billion euros ($11.8 billion) of six-month Treasury bills at a rate of 3.251 percent, down from 6.504 percent at the last auction of similar maturity securities on Nov. 25. Demand was 1.7 times the amount for sale, compared with 1.47 times last month.

The S&P 500 closed little changed yesterday as better-than- estimated consumer confidence data offset a decline in home prices and concern about Europe’s debt crisis.

The gauge is headed for the best fourth quarter since 1999, rising 12 percent since the end of September, on better-than- forecast U.S. economic data and steps taken by European leaders to tame the region’s debt crisis.

Fed Briefings

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke could double press briefings to improve understanding of policy changes that may include signaling interest rates will stay near zero longer, economists said.

Adding briefings “is a viable option because Bernanke has been an effective communicator” of policy aims, said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. Fed officials may also replace their pledge to keep the benchmark rate close to zero through mid-2013 with a description of circumstances under which rates would rise, said Keith Hembre, chief economist at Nuveen Asset Management in Minneapolis.

Google rose 0.7 percent to $644.63 in German trading. The company is adding 625,000 users a day to Google+, which may total 400 million members by the end of next year, according to independent analysis of its growth.

The site’s popularity has accelerated in recent weeks, with almost a quarter of its total user base joining in December alone, said Paul B. Allen , the founder of Ancestry.com Inc., who tracks the numbers as Google+’s “unofficial statistician.”

Citigroup (C) climbed 0.6 percent to $27.07 in pre-market New York trading. The SEC’s suit against the bank will remain on hold while a federal appeals court considers whether to review a judge’s rejection of a $285 million settlement in the case.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Stoukas in Athens at astoukas@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net