US stock index futures slightly up before GDP data

U.S. stock index futures fluctuated around zero percentage change, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index might be heading for the biggest monthly gain since January, as investors awaited a policy announcement following the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting.

S&P 500 futures added 0.03% to 1,685.2 at 12:33 p.m. in London. The benchmark index added 0.04 yesterday after hesitating between gains and losses during the trading session. Future contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 7 points, or 0.03%, to 15,500 today.

“Traders are holding back from taking bold moves ahead of the wealth of data and events lined up over the rest of the trading week,” Ishaq Siddiqi, a market strategist at ETX Capital in London, wrote in e-mailed comments to Bloomberg. “Bernanke already offered his latest views on monetary policy earlier this month at his testimony to Congress, easing investors’ fears that the central bank will be unwinding stimulus prematurely.” he added.

US government report at 1:30 p.m. London time, may show U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter after a 1.8% gain in the previous three months, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Separate data may show U.S. companies added 180,000 jobs to payrolls in July, and business activity increased.

CBS Corp., Whole Foods Market Inc. are among the 33 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings today. Of the 309 companies in the gauge that have already posted quarterly results so far, 73% have exceeded analysts’ estimates for profit and 56% have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

In US corporate news, Riverbed Technology lost 15% to $14.84. The maker of computer-networking products forecast third-quarter earnings will be as much as 24 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 2 cents. The San Francisco-based company also projected sales in the period will be no more than $270 million, falling short of the $274.4 million predicted by analysts.

Amgen sank 1.6% to $109.44 even as the company reported second-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates on growth of top medicines.

In Europe, Symantec surged 3.8% to $25.27. The biggest maker of security software reported fiscal first-quarter profit that exceeded projections as it reduced costs to cope with a record slump in personal-computer sales.

Invensys added 1.9%to 500 pence after Schneider Electric said it will buy the company for the equivalent of 502 pence a share. Schneider, which posted first-half earnings today.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, which won European Commission approval for a 7 billion euro guarantee from the French government, advanced 6.5% to 9.59 euros. The car-maker posted an operating loss of 65 million euros in the first half, a narrower deficit that the 295.8 million euro average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.