Markets: News  

U.S. stock futures flattened with data

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock-index futures held near the flat line after the government reported that durable-goods orders rose 1.1% in May, slightly above expectations, but the prior month's figure was revised down.

"The data overall were not that much different than forecasts after the weakness seen in April, and it's why there is very little market reaction," Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, commented via email.

In high-profile U.S. corporate news, more brokers initiated coverage on Facebook Inc. (FB) overnight.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU2) shed a fraction to 12,476, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU2) rose half a point to 1,315.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDU2) held flat at 2,548.25.

Stocks posted mild gains in a choppy Tuesday on Wall Street, after U.S. home prices posted their first monthly rise since last autumn, according to the Case-Shiller index. The Dow industrials (DJIA) rose and later fell before ending up 32.01 points, or 0.3%, at 12,534.6. The S&P 500 index (SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) gained 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.

Asia stocks finished mostly higher, led by a 1% rally for the Hang Seng Index (HSI) (HSI) , while gains in Europe were tepid on the eve of a two-day EU summit. Ahead of that Brussels gathering, investors will also be watching for news from an evening meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande in Paris.

"In general, it is wait-and-see up to the EU summit," said Anders Møller Lumholtz, senior analyst at Danske Bank. "Most analysts and commentators have the view that this is another disappointment. It's funny this time as expectations are very low. If we can avoid an open disagreement with Italy's [Prime Minister Mario] Monti, then the disappointment will end up not being that big."

Amid this expectation, he said, Wall Street is likely to remain range-bound.

Shares of Lennar Corp. (LEN) (LEN.B) rose after the residential builder reported a jump in second-quarter profit. It projected a slow and steady recovery process for the housing market. See: Housing inventory plunges in some places and city-by-city breakdown of S&P/Case-Shiller housing-prices data.

Best Buy Co. shares (BBY) jumped Tuesday on speculation that the electronics retailer's founder, Richard Schulze, is exploring a bid to take the company private.

Crude-oil futures for August delivery (CLQ2) rose 41 cents to $79.77 a barrel, while gold for August delivery (GCQ2) fell $9 to nearly $1,565.90 an ounce.

The euro (EURUSD) held mostly steady against the dollar at $1.2468.