U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; General Motors Gains in Europe...

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; General Motors Gains in Europe
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) --

U.S. stock-index futures rose before earnings today from companies including Microsoft Corp., AT&T Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.

General Motors Corp., also scheduled to report, gained in Europe after the company's fourth-largest investor, Kirk Kerkorian, yesterday said he bought more stock.

``All eyes will be on earnings from the big names today,'' said Farners Esparch, an analyst at Riva y Garcia Gestion SA in Barcelona, Spain, which oversees $500 million in assets. ``We've had some disappointments, so any positive surprises will give a boost'' to shares. She said her company is ``positive on U.S. stocks'' in the short term.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 5.5 to 1276.5 as of 9:09 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 50 to 10,798. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 10 to 1698.5.

The S&P 500 reached a four-year high on Jan. 11, driven by optimism on corporate profit growth. Since the, the index has lost 2.3 percent after disappointing earnings from companies including General Electric Co. and Intel Corp. More than 140 S&P 500 members will release figures this week, including 50 today.

Microsoft, owner of the Windows operating system, may say after markets close today that fourth-quarter profit rose to 33 cents a share, from 32 cents a year earlier, a Thomson survey of analysts showed. The shares were little changed in Germany.

AT&T, the largest U.S. telephone company, fell 13 cents to $25.08. The company may say today net income rose to 45 cents a share last quarter, from 34 cents, according to a Thomson survey.

Dow Chemical, the biggest U.S. chemical maker, may report that fourth-quarter profit rose to $1.04 per share, from 85 cents a year earlier, a Thomson survey showed. The shares didn't trade in Europe.

Juniper Networks

General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, rose 23 cents to $24.08 in Germany. Kerkorian bought an additional 12 million of the automaker's shares. The purchase was announced after the close of regular trading.

The carmaker may say today before the market opens that it had a loss of 16 cents per share last quarter, compared with a profit of $1.01 a year earlier, a Thomson survey showed.

Juniper Networks Inc., the world's second-largest maker of equipment that directs Internet traffic, lost $1.86, or 8.6 percent, to $19.66. The company said yesterday that fourth- quarter sales were $575.5 million, less than the average estimate of $579.2 million in a Thomson survey of 30 analysts.

Qualcomm Slides

Qualcomm Inc. slumped $1.07 to $46.51 in Germany. The world's No. 2 maker of processors that run mobile phones said that it expects fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.63 billion to $1.73 billion, less than analysts in a Thomson survey had predicted.

Walt Disney Co. added 7 cents to $20.84 in Germany. Euro Disney SCA, Europe's largest theme-park operator of which Walt Disney owns 41 percent, said fiscal first-quarter sales rose 3.7 percent as the company filled more rooms at its hotels and guests spent more on food and drinks.

Among economic data today, a government report is expected to show that orders for durable goods rose at a slower pace in December, while separate data may indicate initial jobless claims increased last week.

Economic Reports

Orders for durable goods probably climbed 1 percent last month, after surging 4.4 percent in November, according to the median estimate of 68 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Excluding transportation, orders may have also risen 1 percent in December, the first increase in four months, the Commerce Department may say.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits rebounded from a five-year low last week, a Labor Department report is projected to show. Jobless claims likely rose to 300,000 from 271,000 a week earlier, according to the median estimate of economists.

Both reports are due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

U.S. stocks yesterday ended a two-day rally, hurt by a worsening profit outlook for oil companies and homebuilders, two of the market's best performers during the past 12 months.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 1264.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2 percent. The Dow average dropped less than 0.1 percent, helped by a gain in General Motors.