U.S. stock index futures fall amid concerns about global growth

LONDON – U.S. stock-index futures declined, after equities fell the most since April, as concern that slower global growth will hurt the U.S. economy pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index towards its longest streak of weekly losses since January.

Microchip Technology Inc. and Juniper Networks Inc. slumped after preliminary quarterly results missed the companies’ own forecasts. Knowles Corp. fell 9.1 percent in late New York trade after reporting worse-than-expected third-quarter profit.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December retreated 0.4 percent to 1,917.5 at 7:28 a.m. in New York, paring earlier losses of as much as 0.7 percent. The benchmark gauge has dropped 2 percent so far this week, bringing it towards a third consecutive weekly loss. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slid 75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,535 today, after earlier losing as much as 0.8 percent. Futures on the Russell 2000 dropped 0.7 percent.

“Risks to global growth are at the center of all concerns right now,” Alessandro Bee, a strategist at Bank J Safra Sarasin AG, said by phone from Zurich. “Investors are paying more attention to what is going on outside America, because if a slowdown in the global economy drags the U.S. economy down, that really does not bode well for equities. Greater volatility this week shows the market is nervous.”

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About $1.1 trillion has been erased from the value of U.S. equities in the three weeks since Sept. 19, amid concerns that a stalling economic recovery in Europe and slowing growth in China could hurt the U.S. economy as the Federal Reserve prepares to end bond purchases.

Increased volatility

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumped 24 percent to 18.76 yesterday, its highest level since Feb. 5. The S&P 500 has posted five days of moves exceeding 1 percent so far in October, after going without such a move for 62 days through July 16. That was the longest stretch of market calm since 1995.

Investors are also watching earnings reports after Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicked off the results season this week. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., BlackRock Inc. and Google Inc. are among S&P 500 members posting results next week. Profit for S&P 500 probably rose 4.9 percent and sales gained 4.1 percent in the third quarter, analysts projected.

Microchip Technology dropped 7.8 percent to $42 in premarket New York trading after saying it expects second- quarter revenue to be about $546.2 million. That missed its July forecast of $560 million to $575.9 million. Sales in China dropped in the period, which is usually the strongest quarter for revenue growth in the country.

Juniper declines

Juniper dropped 5.7 percent to $19.75 in Germany. Third- quarter sales were $1.11 billion to $1.12 billion, less than Juniper’s own estimate of $1.15 billion to $1.2 billion, according to preliminary results. Adjusted earnings per share were 34 cents to 36 cents, compared with its previous projection of 35 cents to 40 cents.

Knowles fell 9.1 percent to $22. Adjusted earnings per share probably totaled between 36 cents and 40 cents for the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to preliminary results. That compared with its earlier projection of 45 cents to 52 cents.

Civeo Corp. jumped 9.6 percent to $13.44 in premarket New York trading. Shareholder Greenlight Capital Inc., which urged Civeo to take on debt and implement a dividend policy, said Chief Executive Officer Bradley Dodson should be replaced because he has lost investors’ support and confidence.

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