U.S. Stock-Index Futures Climb; Amgen, Ford Advance in Europe
By Andreas Hippin
Ford Motor Co., world headquarters July 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating equities will rebound from a rout that wiped out $1.3 trillion in global market value yesterday and sent indexes to their biggest drop in five months.
Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company, climbed in Europe after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates. Ford Motor Co. shares also gained.
U.S. stocks plunged yesterday after Exxon Mobil Corp.'s earnings missed analysts' estimates and higher financing costs threatened to spur debt defaults and slow takeovers. U.S. futures today swung between gains and losses as some investors deemed yesterday's drop was excessive.
``Some people are very focused on the credit side and I don't see any reason why it should spill over to equity markets,'' said Felix Csajka, a fund manager at Clariden Leu in Zurich. Earnings and the economy ``are still generally sound. I am not reacting to any short-term sell-off.''
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September gained 3.5 to 1,491.1 at 10:33 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 26 to 13,560. Nasdaq-100 Index futures added 4 to 2,004.5.
As of July 25, 249 members of S&P 500 had reported second- quarter earnings, showing profit growth of 11.3 percent and beating current estimates of 5.8 percent.
``Corporate earnings proved to be very robust so far,'' said Ulrike Pfuhl, a Frankfurt-based portfolio manager for JPMorgan Asset management, which oversees $847 billion. ``And the U.S. economy isn't all that bad either.''
The U.S. economy probably grew last quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year as manufacturing rebounded and exports improved, economists said before a government report today. The Commerce Department's report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.
Amgen, Ford
Amgen gained 57 cents to $56.73 in Germany. The world's largest biotechnology company said yesterday second-quarter profit, excluding stock options and other expenses, was $1.12 a share, beating analysts' forecasts by 6 cents.
Ford added 26 cents to $8.35 in Germany. The second-largest U.S. automaker and Evenflo Co., a maker of child car seats, aren't liable for injuries a 5-year-old girl suffered in a head- on collision in 2003, a Florida jury decided.
``Some investors follow a buy-the-dip strategy, using the steep losses of the past days as a buying opportunity,'' said Gerold Kuehne, who helps manage a $200 million U.S. equity fund at Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
At least 10 companies in the S&P 500 are due to report quarterly results today.
(20min delay)