US stock-index futures remain unchanged for a second day

U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after seven days of gains for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as investors weighed an unexpected drop in jobless claims to support the Federal Reserve’s next move on stimulus.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring this month dropped 0.02% to 1,688.5 at 9:00 a.m. in New York. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 5 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,325.

“The sense is that the U.S. economy is not sufficiently strong to favor an immediate taper,” Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley Group Plc in London, said in a telephone interview for Bloomberg. “We are in for a comparatively quiet session after a recent sharp reduction in levels of volatility as investors eye a new all-time high in U.S. equities.” he added.

Investors have been analyzing data to determine whether the economy is strong enough for the Fed to pare back its record stimulus following its Sept. 17-18 meeting. Most likely the reduction will start soon after the meeting takes place, or at least most of the economic data supports it.

In corporate news, Facebook added 1.3% to $45.64. The stock yesterday advanced 3.3% to $45.04, a record close that also surpassed the intraday high of $45 on the stock’s first public trading day in May 2012.

Pandora Media soared 5.3% to $22.51. The biggest online radio service hired McAndrews in a push to lift revenue while fending off competition from Apple Inc. The executive was also named chairman and president, succeeding Joe Kennedy.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a developer of small-molecule pharmaceuticals, gained 2% to $81.44, and Ametek Inc., a manufacturer of electronic instruments, added 1.1% to $45. S&P Dow Jones Indices said the two companies will join the S&P 500, replacing Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and SAIC Inc.

Netflix Inc., the mail subscription and streaming video service, fell 1.8% to $302.60 in pre-market trading in New York. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to “equal weight”, a rating similar to “neutral”, from “overweight”. Netflix’s success in producing original content has been factored into the price, limiting the potential for further gains, the brokerage said.