(BN) U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance Before Consumer-Confidence
Data

Ion-Marc Valahu answers Bloomberg – 15.08.2014

“The main reason why futures are up is more to do with a relief rally and the fact that the U.S. economy should be able to weather the storm and grow, but at a slower pace,"Ion-Marc Valahu, a co-founder and fund manager at Clairinvest in Geneva

+——————————————————————————+

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance Before Consumer-Confidence Data
2014-08-15 11:31:09.678 GMT

By Jonathan Morgan
Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock-index futures advanced,
indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rise for a third
day, as investors awaited data on consumer confidence to gauge
the strength of the world’s biggest economy.
Monster Beverage Corp. soared 21 percent in pre-market New
York trading after Coca-Cola Co. agreed to buy a stake in the
company. J.C. Penney Co. gained 1.5 percent after posting a
narrower second-quarter loss. OmniVision Technologies Inc. fell
1 percent after Robert W. Baird & Co. cut its rating on the
maker of digital-imaging components for consumer electronics.
S&P 500 futures expiring next month climbed 0.3 percent to
1,958.4 at 7:26 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark gauge
yesterday added 0.4 percent to reach its highest level since
July 30. It has risen 1.2 percent this week — heading for its
biggest weekly gain in more than a month — amid speculation
that the crisis in Ukraine won’t escalate. Dow Jones Industrial
Average contracts added 47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,729
today.
“The main reason why futures are up is more to do with a
relief rally and the fact that the U.S. economy should be able
to weather the storm and grow, but at a slower pace,” Ion-Marc
Valahu, a co-founder and fund manager at Clairinvest in Geneva,
said in a phone interview.
U.S. data at 9:55 a.m. New York time may show consumer
confidence in the world’s largest economy rebounded from its
lowest level since March. The Thomson Reuters/University of
Michigan’s preliminary sentiment index rose to 82.5 in August
from 81.8 last month, economists forecast.

Earnings Reports

Estee Lauder Cos. posts results today. Nineteen companies,
including Home Depot Inc. and Hewlett Packard Co, release
earnings next week. About 75 percent of those that have reported
this season have beaten analyst estimates for earnings, while 64
percent have exceeded sales projections, data compiled by
Bloomberg show.
Monster Beverage soared 21 percent to $87.02. Coca-Cola
agreed to swap some brands and buy a 17 percent stake in Monster
Beverage for about $2.15 billion. The stake increases Coca-
Cola’s exposure to the growing energy-drink market. Coca-Cola
added 1.3 percent to $40.70.
J.C. Penny climbed 1.5 percent to $9.89. The department-
store chain that hasn’t had an annual profit in three years said
its net loss in the three months ended Aug. 2 shrank to $172
million from $586 million a year earlier. Sales rose 5.1 percent
to $2.8 billion. Analysts estimated $2.78 billion, on average.
OmniVision Technologies dropped 1 percent to $28.01. Robert
Baird downgraded the California-based company to neutral from
outperform, similar to a buy rating, with an estimated stock
price of $27.

For Related News and Information:
Developed Markets View: DMMV
World Stock Indexes: WEI
S&P 500 Market Map: SPX IMAP
Top Stories on Stocks: TOP STK
Equity Screening: EQS
Graphing: GRAPH
Feature Stories on Stocks: TNI STK GREET

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at +49-69-92041-207 or
jmorgan157@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Cecile Vannucci at +44-20-3525-7032 or
cvannucci1@bloomberg.net
Alan Soughley