U.S. Stock Futures Are Little Changed Before Fed Meeting

By Adria Cimino 

U.S. stock futures were little changed, following a two-day slide for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as investors awaited a report on housebuilding and the start of a Federal Reserve meeting.

Electronic Arts Inc. rose 1.3 percent after the computer- game publisher ousted its chief executive officer. BlackRock Inc. may be active after the world’s biggest money manager announced job cuts. Boeing Co. advanced after Ryanair Holdings Plc agreed to buy $15.6 billion of airplanes.

Futures on the S&P 500 (SPX) expiring in June rose 0.1 percent to 1,547.7 at 7:31 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark fell 0.6 percent yesterday after the euro area forced Cyprus to extract a levy from bank deposits in return for a bailout. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 3 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,393.

“There won’t be any surprises from the Fed and that’s good news,” said Jacques Porta, who helps manage about $776 million at Ofi Gestion Privee in Paris. “What’s happening in Cyprus is bringing confusion to the market. What is worrisome is what is being done there could be done in other euro-zone countries. It’s the opening of Pandora’s Box.”

The Federal Open Market Committee begins a two-day meeting at 9 a.m. today. The policy makers agreed in December to link record-low interest rates to thresholds for unemployment and inflation so that investors and households know what conditions will prompt the Fed to consider raising rates.

Housing Starts

Builders broke ground on 915,000 houses at an annual rate in February, the second-fastest pace since mid-2008, according to the median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. They started work on 890,000 properties at an annual rate in January. Building permits, a proxy for future construction, may have advanced to an almost five-year high.

The Commerce Department will publish the figures at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

U.S. stocks fell yesterday as the Cypriot bank levy sparked concern that the euro area’s debt crisis will reignite.

Cypriot lawmakers meet at 6 p.m. in Nicosia today to debate how to spread a proposed charge on bank deposits among account holders. The levy, announced on March 16, sparked concern among investors about setting a precedent by breaking the taboo against raiding bank accounts.

Cyprus’s banks will remain closed until Thursday as talks continue on the bailout terms.

The bull market in U.S. equities entered its fifth year this month. The S&P 500 has more than doubled from its bottom in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Fed. The S&P 500 rose to within two points of its 2007 record last week while the Dow reached an all-time high.

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts advanced 1.3 percent to $18.95 in early New York trading. The second-largest U.S. computer-game publisher ousted John Riccitiello as chief executive officer. Chairman Larry Probst, 63, who ran Electronic Arts until 2007, becomes executive chairman and will lead the management as the board seeks a new CEO, according to a statement.

The publisher of “Medal of Honor” and the multiplayer “Star Wars” also said that earnings for the current quarter may fall short of analysts’ estimates.

BlackRock (BLK) may move after saying it will cut about 300 jobs, less than 3 percent of its workforce. Some of the employees will leave immediately, President Robert S. Kapito said in a memo. He added that the company will probably have more workers at the end of 2013 than at the end of 2012.

Boeing climbed 0.5 percent to $85.59 in Europe. Ryanair agreed to buy 175 Boeing 737 jets worth $15.6 billion at list prices. The planes will be delivered by 2018.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net.

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