NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks held firm near recent five-month highs on Wednesday as investors awaited key bond market tests for Europe in the next two days that could determine the direction of the euro zone crisis.

U.S. equities have been performing better in the face of turmoil from Europe's sovereign debt problems. This is a major change from four months ago and comes as investors have taken improving U.S. economic data to heart and an optimistic view about corporate earnings.

Wall Street recovered from early losses on Wednesday brought on by a warning from Fitch Ratings of severe repercussions, including a possible collapse of the euro, without more supportive action by the European Central Bank.

The Fitch news sent the euro to its lowest level in 16 months against the U.S. dollar, which would normally have spelled steeper losses for stocks.

"The U.S. is being looked at clearly as the safe-haven trade, not only on the fixed income side but now even from equity investors," said Ken Polcari, managing director at ICAP Equities in New York.

"We keep talking about the same stuff, but it's been that way for eight, nine months … I hate to say it, but it's almost like people are immune to it now."

The benchmark S&P 500 index recovered to close little changed to continue the recent decoupling of U.S. stocks and the movement of the embattled euro.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) slipped 13.02 points, or 0.10 percent, to 12,449.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX)(.INX) gained 0.40 point, or 0.03 percent, to 1,292.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) gained 8.26 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,710.76.

Key bond auctions later this week from Italy and Spain, two countries at the center of the euro zone crisis, could hurt sentiment if they go poorly.

Materials shares moved higher, boosted by U.S. Steel Corp (X.N), up 4.7 percent to $28.56, after Credit Suisse upgraded fellow metals company AK Steel (AKS.N) to an "outperform" rating. The S&P materials sector (.GSPM) gained 1 percent.

Further reflecting the weakening link between the euro zone and U.S. stock market, the 50-day correlation between the S&P 500 e-mini futures contract and the euro crossed the zero line this week after four months of being in positive territory, indicating they were no longer on the same path.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) slipped 2.3 percent to $105.35 in extended trade after the No. 2 U.S. oil company gave its fourth-quarter outlook.

Supervalu Inc (SVU.N) shares dropped 12.5 percent to $7.34 after quarterly sales at the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain missed estimates.

Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters Inc (URBN.O), grappling with inventory and declining margins, said its chief executive resigned unexpectedly, sending the company's shares tumbling 18.6 percent to $23.93.

On the Nasdaq, Crocs (CROX.O) shares rose 16.4 percent to $18.56 after the shoemaker said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be at the high end of its earlier estimate, becoming the latest footwear company to flag strong sales numbers for the holiday season.

Volume was modest with about 6.65 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, almost even with the daily average of 6.7 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,646 to 1,352, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 1,482 to 1,009.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced Thursday that it will allow the creation of the world’s largest stock exchange operator after the German conglomerate that wants to buy the New York Stock Exchange sells its stake in a third, smaller American stock exchange operator.

Justice Department lawyers filed papers in U.S. District Court in Washington that would allow the merger of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse AG after the German company orders one of its subsidiaries to sell its 31.5 percent stake in Direct Edge Holdings LLC, which is the United States’ fourth largest stock exchange operator. In addition to the sale of Direct Edge, the proposed settlement between Justice and the two companies prohibits them from participating in the business or running of Direct Edge.

The German company, which operates the Frankfurt stock exchange, offered to buy NYSE Euronext for $10 billion in February. The transaction would create the world’s largest exchange operator. NYSE Euronext owns exchanges in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam, in addition to New York.

“Without the divestiture and other restrictions obtained by the Justice Department, a combined NYSE and Deutsche Borse entity could influence the actions of Direct Edge, and thereby lessen the zeal of an aggressive and innovative exchange competitor,” said Sharis A. Pozen, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The remedy ensures that participants in the markets for U.S. equities exchange products and services will continue to receive the full benefits of robust competition in the form of competitive prices and increased innovation.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Deutsche Borse’s subsidiary, ISE, will divest itself of its interest in Direct Edge within two years.

The Deutsche Boerse-NYSE Eurostar merger would not only control important stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic, but also have a potentially dominant position in the trading of derivatives. Derivatives are complex financial products that allow investors to bet on movements in areas such as interest rates, stock indexes or commodity prices.

The combination of the two exchanges has been harshly criticized by competitors like the London Stock Exchange and U.S.-based Nasdaq.

LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) – European stocks edged up on Tuesday, catching the tailwind of a pre-holiday U.S. rally, while the euro was hamstrung by the prospect of a large Italian debt auction later in the week.

Oil prices were buoyed by positive U.S. jobs and housing data late last week as well as the prospect of sanctions against Syria choking off production there.

At 0920 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 993.98 points in thin trade. Stock markets in Britain, Hong Kong and Australia remained closed.

Asian shares eased as investors squared positions before U.S. markets reopen after a long weekend, leaving the MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) a touch higher on the day.

"With U.S. and European players in holiday mood, there is no incentive except for year-end position adjustments," said Hirokazu Yuihama, senior strategist at Daiwa Capital Markets.

"But concerns about euro zone debt will resurface early next year, with the focus on refinancing needs facing Italy and Spain, and whether sovereign yields of these countries would shoot above levels considered unsustainable," he said.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slipped 0.3 percent and has shed 17 percent so far this year. It has underperformed the pan-European index, which is down 12 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average (.N225) closed down 0.5 percent and has also lost 17 percent this year.

The euro traded at $1.3070, little changed on the day. A fall below $1.2945, a level touched earlier in the month, would take the single currency to its weakest since January.

German government bond futures were up 10 ticks due to investors seeking a safe harbor ahead of Thursday's Italian debt auction to raise up to 8.5 billion euros.

Italian 10-year borrowing costs, at around 7 percent, are viewed as unsustainable in the long-run for a country facing a national debt of around 120 percent of GDP.

"I think there could be some downside risks for the euro. (Thursday's auction) will be more of a test of the market, given that the bonds auctioned are longer maturities," said Sverre Holbek, currency strategist at Danske in Copenhagen.

"A further rise in Italian yields should almost certainly be euro negative, and thin liquidity may exacerbate the move."

HOPES FOR U.S.

After upbeat U.S. reports last week, investors will be looking for more positive signs when the S&P Case-Shiller house price index for October and consumer confidence for December are released later on Tuesday.

U.S. holiday season retail sales were expected to rise 3.8 percent to a record $469.1 billion, the National Retail Federation said, slower than last year's growth but stronger than its pre-season forecast.

Brisk sales would reinforce signs the U.S. economy is strengthening, following data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits hit a 3-1/2-year low in the week before Christmas while new U.S. single-family home sales rose to a seven-month high.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) broke through its 200-day moving average on Friday after a four-day rally lifted the index into positive territory for the year.

U.S. crude oil futures and gold have been among the top performing assets in 2011, with year-to-date rises of about 9 percent and 12 percent respectively.

Brent crude rose slightly to trade above $108 on Tuesday, supported by supply disruptions in Syria and Iranian naval exercises in a key shipping lane, while improved U.S. home sales data and year-end short-covering also supported prices.

Arab League peace monitors headed to the Syrian city of Homs to assess whether Syria has halted a nine-month crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Activists said at least 31 people were killed on Monday in the city, which has been under heavy attack by government troops and tanks.

Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alao said on Saturday that his country's oil production had fallen by about 30 to 35 percent as a result of sanctions imposed on Syria over its nine-month crackdown on anti-government protests.

"Syria could be a support factor for the time being, but we will not see a big climb or rocket high prices because of that," Ken Hasegawa, a derivatives manager with brokerage Newedge in Tokyo, said.

Gold hovered around $1,600 an ounce, as investors stayed on the sidelines in the final week of the year.

(Editing by Patrick Graham)

LITTLE CHANGED: Stocks closed mixed Wednesday after trading in a narrow range all day. Markets had muted reactions to headlines out of Europe as traders awaited bigger news expected later this week.

UP NEXT: The European Central Bank will make an announcement on interest rates Thursday. Traders hope the ECB will signal willingness to shore up Europe’s weaker economies.

CAPPING THE WEEK: On Friday, European leaders will wrap up a two-day summit at which they will discuss coordinating their budgets more closely. Traders hope the meeting will produce a clearer plan for solving the two-year-old European debt crisis.

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets were mixed Friday as markets nervously awaited U.S. employment figures and a key speech by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in hopes she might unveil new steps to stanch Europe’s escalating debt crisis.

Benchmark oil lingered above $100 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent to 8,627.85, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.1 percent to 4,272.90. But South Korea’s Kospi was marginally down at 1,913.88 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5 percent to 18,909.07. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and mainland China were also lower. Malaysia and New Zealand rose.

Merkel’s speech Friday before Germany’s parliament about Europe’s financial crisis comes ahead of a summit of European Union leaders on Dec. 9, whose goal is to deliver a long-term solution to the debt crisis.

Merkel has acknowledged the need for changes to the European Union treaty to impose stricter financial controls on countries that use the euro common currency to prevent them from taking on too much debt.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland said they were working together to make it easier for banks to borrow dollars.

The coordinated effort was meant to prevent Europe’s debt crisis from exploding into a global panic. Should a European bank fail or if a country default on its debt, investors fear it could result in a freeze-up in global lending like the one that occurred in 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed.

China’s central bank also acted to release money for lending and to shore up growth by lowering bank reserve levels for the first time in three years. The bank actions caused global stocks to rally Thursday.

Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong, said the huge boost to markets on Thursday led some investors to cash in shares for profits Friday.

“We had a big gain yesterday. The Hang Seng gained about 1,000 points, so for today maybe it is reasonable to consolidate,” Yip said.

Gambling shares were among those being sold off. Hong Kong-listed Wynn Macau lost 6.5 percent and SJM Holdings Ltd. fell 4.5 percent.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics fell 1.3 percent after Australia’s highest court temporarily extended a ban on sales of the company’s Galaxy tablet computers in the country. The case stems from a suit by Apple that accuses Samsung of copying the iPad and iPhone and violating Apple’s patents.

Another rise in applications for weekly U.S. unemployment benefits dampened the mood on Wall Street on Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 percent to close at 12,020.03. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.2 percent to 1,244.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 0.2 percent to 2,626.

The Labor Department said initial applications rose to 402,000 last week, the second weekly increase in a row. The figures didn’t change expectations for the government’s monthly labor report, which comes out Friday. Economists forecast that the unemployment rate will remain at 9 percent.

Traders also got little encouragement from a better manufacturing report. The Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace since June. The crucial jobs report for November will be released by the Labor Department on Friday.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was down 7 cents to $100.13 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. The contract lost 16 cents to end at $100.20 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3458 from $1.3460 late Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 77.78 yen from 77.76 yen.

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets were mixed Friday, a day after rallying on news that six of the world’s central banks slashed borrowing costs for banks to shore up Europe’s financial system and prevent its debt crisis from getting worse.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent to 8,629.81, and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 gained 0.5 percent to 4,248.30. But South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.3 percent to 1,911.31 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent to 18,939.18. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and mainland China were also lower.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak before Germany’s parliament about Europe’s financial crisis and next Friday’s EU summit.

Hopes are that European leaders will deliver a long-term solution to the debt crisis at the summit.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland said they were working together to make it easier for banks to borrow dollars.

The coordinated effort was meant to prevent Europe’s debt crisis from exploding into a global panic. Should a European bank fail or if a country default on its debt, investors fear it could result in a freeze-up in global lending markets like the one that occurred in 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Another rise in applications for weekly U.S. unemployment benefits dampened the mood on Wall Street on Thursday. Traders took little encouragement from a better manufacturing report. The Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace since June.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 percent to close at 12,020.03. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.2 percent to 1,244.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 0.2 percent to 2,626.

The Labor Department said initial applications rose to 402,000 last week, the second weekly increase in a row. The figures didn’t change expectations for the government’s monthly labor report, which comes out Friday. Economists forecast that the unemployment rate will remain at 9 percent.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks retreated on Friday as political instability in Europe overshadowed encouraging domestic jobs data and investors focused on the uncertainty surrounding a confidence vote in the Greek parliament after U.S. markets close.

Financial markets have been engulfed by volatility less than a week after investors thought they had a framework for a solution to Europe's woes. The vote on the Greek Prime Minister leaves the fate of $130 billion bailout deal hanging in the balance with investors again chewing over worst-case scenarios.

"My main conclusion is that, strip away the debt and everything else, having Greece in the euro is untenable," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.

Ablin, who just returned from meeting with economists in Athens, said he believes the nation is on a slow and painful road to abandoning the euro and reinstating the drachma, an outcome that could spell months of trouble in financial markets.

Stock sectors most exposed to weakness in European banks and tied to growth, such as industrials, financials, materials and energy were among the weakest. The S&P's financial index led losses, falling 1.7 percent.

Although the S&P 500 has rallied 14 percent since its October low to the upper end of its recent trading range, the market has struggled to move higher and the outlook for Europe continues to be murky.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 89.80 points, or 0.75 percent, to 11,954.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 10.15 points, or 0.80 percent, to 1,251.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 13.08 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,684.89.

Financial shares slumped, with the KBW capital markets index down 1.6 percent.

Shares of Jefferies Group Inc lost as much as 7.4 percent after brokerage Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Jefferies target price but said the investment bank is being "unjustly punished" over perceived exposure to the European debt crisis.

The shares recovered by the afternoon to trade almost flat at $11.98 after losing nearly 20 percent this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said hardly any countries in the Group of 20 industrialized nations are willing to participate in the euro zone bailout fund, throwing cold water on plans to stabilize Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

Labor Department data showed U.S. hiring slowed in October but the unemployment rate hit a six-month low and job gains in the prior two months were stronger than previously thought, pointing to some improvement in the still-weak labor market.

"Point one right now is clearly the Greek situation because that thing has got to be resolved very soon or else there will be issues that we are not going to care to address," said Cummins Catherwood, managing director at Boenning and Scattergood in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

"We are all absolutely transfixed by this and it has overcome the jobs report today, which was mildly encouraging but again nothing to write home about."

The PHLX Europe sector index, which includes major European shares, dropped 2.3 percent.

The focus on developments from Europe has kept stock trading volatile, with the S&P 500 index swinging more than 1.5 percent every day this week. The index is on track to post its first negative week in five after closing on Monday with its best month in 20 years.

In a move to make its deficit targets credible, Italy agreed to have the International Monetary Fund monitor the country's progress with long delayed reforms of pensions, labor markets and privatization. Italy's debt burden could be the market's next target after a resolution of Greece's finances.

Shares of daily deals site Groupon Inc rose more than 50 percent in their stock market debut, but at least some of the early trading exuberance may have come from limiting the fraction of the company that was sold.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK – 2011 was shaping up to be a washout for the stock market just two weeks ago. Now, it’s within shouting distance of its biggest comeback in nearly three decades.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 index has jumped 11.4 percent since hitting its lowest level of the year on Oct. 3, largely because investors have become more confident that Europe will shelter its banks from huge losses on Greek bonds should that country’s government stop making payments on its debt. For much of the summer, investors feared that a Greek default could lead to a freeze of lending between European banks and cascade into a credit crisis similar to the one in 2008.

The S&P 500 was down 12.6 percent for the year as of Oct. 3, when it closed at 1,099. As of Friday, it had trimmed the loss to 2.6 percent. It needs to gain just 33 points, or 2.8 percent, to get above 1,257, where it started the year.

If the S&P 500 finishes the year with a gain, it will be the biggest turnaround since 1984. That year, Apple Inc. introduced the Macintosh, and President Ronald Reagan’s campaign ads proclaimed that it was “Morning Again in America.” It was also the last time that the S&P 500 fell more than 10 percent during a calendar year and finished the year in the black. The index finished that year up 1.4 percent.

Edging out another gain of that size in 2011 wouldn’t make anyone rich. But consider the hand that investors were dealt this year: A tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan plunged the world’s third-largest economy into a recession and created a worldwide parts shortage. Uprisings throughout the Arab world sent the price of gas skyrocketing to an average of $3.98 a gallon in May. The U.S. lost its top-notch credit ranking for the first time. And Europe has teetered on the edge of a financial crisis that could hobble the region’s banking system.

With all of that going on, investors might wonder how the S&P 500 index could possibly end the year higher than where it started. The biggest reason: some think stocks may be the best value out there.

With dividend payments alone, the S&P index offers a return on par with low-risk U.S. Treasurys. From Aug. 24 through Thursday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was below the dividend yield of the S&P 500 index. Since 1962, the only other time that’s happened was during the 2008 credit crisis, according to J.P. Morgan.

“You have to have pretty dark thoughts to think that there’s not a chance that the S&P 500 beats out Treasurys at this point,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Bank.

Stone also thinks company earnings are going to be better in the third quarter than many analysts expect, driving stock prices higher. Since July, analysts have cut back their estimates for the S&P 500′s third quarter earnings 3 percent because of concerns that the U.S. economy might be heading into a recession. Since then, retail sales, applications for unemployment benefits, and the number of jobs added in August have been better than Wall Street expected. “The market has been priced for the worst, but that’s not bearing out in reality,” Stone said.

Others point to the fact that the S&P 500 was stuck in a narrow trading range since Aug. 4th. That day, the index fell below 1,260 during a broad sell-off. The stock market has moved up and down a lot since then, but hasn’t really gone that far. The S&P 500 has mainly traded between 1,099 and 1,218, a relatively small band. On Friday it broke out of that range, closing at 1,224.

Investors who buy and sell the S&P 500 index based on analyzing patterns in charts — known on Wall Street as technical traders — believe that indexes will tend to keep moving steadily in the same direction once they break out of a trading range. That’s because investors tend to follow the herd. Increased confidence in Europe’s ability to prevent a widespread financial crisis may help the S&P 500 move out of that range and stay there.

“If we have truly averted the worst of Europe then a large dark cloud is going to be lifted off of this market and momentum is going to take over,” said Richard Ross, global technical analyst at Auerbach Grayson.

Seasonal investor behavior might also lift the S&P 500. The S&P index typically gains an average of 3.9 percent during the last three months of the year. “Positive market psychology hits a fever pitch as the holiday season approaches and does not begin to wane until the spring,” according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac. Professional investors also tend to readjust their portfolios at this time of year, buying stocks that have done well and selling those which have fared poorly for tax purposes.

That could have a greater than usual effect this year because the S&P 500 remains cheap, analysts say. At the start of the year, the S&P 500 traded at 15 times its earnings over the last 12 months. That was below the average price-to-earnings multiple of 18.6 over the last 10 years. Friday, the S&P 500 traded at 12.9 times earnings.

It’s not quite time to count on gains, however. The S&P 500 has fallen more than 10 percent 43 times since 1900, according to Sam Stovall, chief equity analyst at Standard & Poor’s. It finished the year with a gain only 11 times, a comeback rate of 26 percent. The average gain in those years was 1.8 percent.

“I’m skeptical of this rally,” Stovall said, noting that Europe’s debt problems still aren’t solved. “But even if there is a gain, history says that you’re not going to end up with anything to be too excited about.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks were little changed on Tuesday, with major indexes seesawing between gains and losses before a key vote by Slovakia on expanding the euro zone rescue fund.

The back-and-forth moves on Wall Street follow several days of sharp gains. The S&P 500 has risen 8.7 percent over the past five days, its biggest five-day move since March 2009, as stocks recovered from steep losses tied to worries about the euro zone debt crisis.

Markets have been reacting to news from the euro zone where officials are trying to contain a debt crisis that threatens large European banks and global financial stability.

"It's been the biggest problem on the front burner for the U.S.," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville. "It looks like it's being diffused."

With 16 of 17 euro zone states having ratified a pact to boost the size and powers of the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund, all eyes turned to Slovakia. The country's finance minister said the country was expected to approve the changes this week.

Any more delays in coming up with a plan intended to head off crisis could give the market an excuse to sell. Stocks have reached the top of a recent range, hitting resistance around 1195 on the S&P 500.

With earnings season beginning after the close of trading with Alcoa Inc's (AA.N) profit report, investors hoped for more gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 17.33 points, or 0.15 percent, at 11,415.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 0.66 point, or 0.06 percent, at 1,194.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 8.21 points, or 0.32 percent, at 2,574.26.

Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum company, was up 2.6 percent to $10.35, making it the best performer on the Dow.

"Expectations are so low that Alcoa doesn't have to say a lot in order to beat expectations," said King Lip, chief investment officer at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.

In the past week, analysts have lowered their consensus earnings estimates for Alcoa, citing a precipitous drop in metals prices in recent months sparked by global economic concerns.

At midday, about one stock advanced for every decliner on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. About 2.87 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, lower than average.

(Reporting by Ashley Lau; editing by Kenneth Barry)

U.S. stock index futures are sinking ahead of the government’s September jobs report, which will likely show a U.S. labor market that remains weak.

Economists expect the report to show employers added only 56,000 net jobs in September, not nearly enough to keep up with population growth. They expect the unemployment to hold at 9.1 percent. It would be the fifth straight month of little or no job creation.

Employers slowed hiring as the economy softened, Europe’s debt crisis loomed and stock markets swung wildly.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 32 points, or 0.3 percent, at 11,014 at 7:39 a.m. Eastern time. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are down 4, or 0.3 percent, at 1,154. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 8, or 0.4 percent, at 2,197.