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stock futures fall as china curbs lending Stock futures fall as China curbs lending

Jun 16, 2006 — By Jennifer Coogan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell, pointing to a slightly lower market open on Friday on concerns that new measures by China to restrict credit will slow U.S. profit growth.

The central bank said in Beijing on Friday it will raise bank reserve requirements by half a percentage point effective July 5.

"China's taking another step to curb bank lending, and the market was up enormously," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. "If China's trying to slow down their economy, that has implications for the rest of the world."

S&P 500 futures were down 4.7 points, below fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 39 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 9.25 points.

U.S. stocks had rallied on the previous two sessions, with the S&P and Nasdaq both making their biggest gains in more than two years on Thursday.

Traders said there was relief that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Thursday did not fuel inflation concerns.

However, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President William Poole said on Friday in Seoul that pressure from the pass-through of high energy prices to U.S. inflation may be greater than has appeared so far in economic data.