Futures off after rally; consumer data, FOMC eyed

NEW YORK: US stock index futures fell on Tuesday after rising nearly 8 percent in the past five sessions as investors cautiously awaited a batch of data for a better assessment on the state of the economy.

The Conference Board releases its August consumer confidence report at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Economists expected a reading of 52.0, compared with 59.5 in July.

The US Federal Reserve releases its minutes of its Aug. 9 at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). Investors will look for clues on how the policy-setting panel views the economic outlook.

Standard & Poor's releases its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). Economists expected a repeat of the May flat reading.

In company news, Peabody Energy Corp and ArcelorMittal SA won over Macarthur Coal Ltd with a sweetened A$4.9 billion (US$5.2 billion) offer after a rival bidder failed to emerge for the Australian coal miner.

S&P 500 futures fell 6.8 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 45 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 5.5 points.

US stocks soared more than 2 percent in a broad rally on Monday as a big Greek bank merger provided a rare bit of encouraging news out of debt-stricken Europe.

Bill Gross, the closely followed manager of PIMCO, the world's largest bond fund, feels like "crying in his beer" for betting so heavily against US government-related debt earlier this year, the Financial Times reported.

India's Future Group is in talks with several potential buyers including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co to sell its financial services arm, Future Capital Holdings, sources told Reuters.

US President Barack Obama, under pressure to spur job growth, has chosen Princeton labor economist Alan Krueger to become the top White House economist and will offer a jobs plan next week.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent, extended the previous session's strong gains on rising expectation that US data due will ease fears over the prospect of another global economic downturn.

Copyright Reuters, 2011