US stock index futures retreat before pending home sales data

US stock index futures slightly decreased hinting the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will end its biggest monthly gain since October 2011, before a report that may show fewer Americans signed contracts to buy houses last month.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in September slipped 0.2% to 1,686.6 at 7:26 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark lost less than 0.1% last week, halting its longest streak of weekly gains since May 17. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 36 points, or 0.14%, to 15,477 today.

The S&P 500 has still advanced 5.3% this month. The gauge fell in June, after seven consecutive months of gains, as investors focused on economic data to predict when the Federal Reserve will reduce its $85 billion of monthly bond purchases.

“We are entering a world in which rates are rising, and the Fed’s going to taper. There may be higher volatility, but there will be a bigger appetite for risk. Now we’re seeing a rotation into cyclicals, so markets are saying we want growth.”, Ramin Nakisa, an asset allocation strategist at UBS AG in London, told Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television.

The data report from Labor Department due Friday may show the unemployment rate sank to 7.5% in this month. The Fed will maintain its benchmark interest rate at 0.25% after concluding its policy-setting meeting on Wednesday. The central bank will begin to reduce its bond-purchase program in September, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Omnicom jumped 8.1% to $70.42 in Germany after agreeing to merge with Publicis to create a company with revenue of $23 billion and a market value of $35 billion. The shareholders of Publicis and Omnicom will each hold about 50% of the new entity, Publicis Omnicom Group.

Saks Inc. added 3.2% to $15.80 in early trading. Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay Co. may announce a deal to buy the luxury department-store retailer as early as today, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Shares of Elan Corp. surged 11% in Ireland, as its American depositary receipts could move higher in pre-market after drug maker Perrigo said it will use a combination of cash and stock to buy Elan for $16.50 a share, which is a 10.5% premium over Elan’s closing price Friday.

In European and Asian markets, Europe stocks were set to snap a two-session losing streak, but Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average finished 3.3% down, the lowest level in more than a month after the yen pushed higher against the dollar.