U.S. index futures decline with S&P 500 at record as banks fined

LONDON – U.S. stock-index futures declined, signaling benchmark gauges may fall from record levels, as investors consider valuations that are the highest since 2009.

Citigroup Inc. dropped in German trading after U.S., Swiss and British regulators fined the bank to settle a probe into the rigging of foreign-exchange benchmarks. Fossil Group Inc. jumped 8.9 percent in early New York trading after posting better-than- estimated earnings and saying it will buy back shares.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December lost 0.4 percent to 2,028.7 at 6:51 a.m. in New York. The equity gauge is trading at 17 times the projected earnings of its members. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts declined 60 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,508 today.

“It’s difficult to give markets the will to go higher,” said Jacques Porta, who helps oversee $780 million at Ofi Gestion Privee in Paris. “Markets need to have a rest. Equities are at all-time highs and it’s always difficult to break records. Everyone has known for a long time that the U.S. markets are not cheap, but perhaps investors don’t see it as too expensive because the U.S. economy is strong.”

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The S&P 500 has rebounded 9.5 percent from a six-month low in October amid better-than-estimated corporate results and economic data. The equity benchmark advanced for a fifth day yesterday as housebuilders rose. The Dow climbed for a sixth day, the longest winning streak since June.

Bank fines

Citigroup declined 0.9 percent to $53.30 in Germany after regulators ordered the lender to pay $668 million to settle the benchmark-rigging probe. JPMorgan Chase & Co., fined $662 million, was little changed. They are among five lenders penalized, according to statements from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

The settlements are the first since authorities around the world began investigating allegations last year that bank dealers colluded with counterparts at other firms to manipulate benchmarks used by fund managers to determine what they pay for foreign currency.

Bank of America Corp. declined 1 percent to $17.15 in early New York trading.

Fossil Group jumped 8.9 percent to $113 after announcing a $1-billion share repurchase plan. The watchmaker posted third- quarter earnings of $1.96 a share, exceeding the average analyst projection of $1.82.

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