New York: US stock-index futures rose yesterday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index heading for its longest streak of weekly gains since April, after profit at Research in Motion (RIM) and Oracle beat estimates.
Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, surged 5.9 per cent as it forecast sales and profit that topped analysts' predictions. Oracle, the second-largest software maker, rallied 4.6 per cent. Texas Instruments Inc, the second-biggest US chipmaker, climbed 2.8 per cent after raising its dividend 8.3 per cent and adding $7.5 billion (Dh27.5 billion) to funds available to buy shares.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December gained 0.6 per cent to 1,129.8 as of 12.02pm in London. The index rose 1.4 per cent last week, a third straight week of gains. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 0.5 per cent to 10,605 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 0.5 per cent to 1,960.25.
"The continued strength of corporate earnings directly contradicts the universally gloomy prognosis of the global economy," said Max King, a London-based investment strategist at Investec Asset Management, which oversees about $55 billion. "Global equity markets appear exceptionally good value."
The S&P 500 has lost 7.6 per cent from its 2010 high in April amid mounting evidence of a slowdown in the world's largest economy. The gauge has risen 7.2 per cent so far this month after the drop pushed the index's valuation to about 12.2 times estimated profits for the next year, near the lowest since March 2009.
Economists forecast an improvement in US consumer confidence this month. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary September index of consumer sentiment, rose to 70 this month from 68.9 in August, according to the Bloomberg survey median.