US stock index futures little changed before home sales, durable goods data

U.S. stock-index futures were almost unchanged, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped for four days, amid concern lawmakers will fail to reach a budget deal.

A Commerce Department report at 8:30 a.m. Washington time may show that durable goods, excluding the volatile transportation category, rose 1% in August after falling 0.8% the previous month, according to the median forecast of 60 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Separate data from the Commerce Department will probably show that purchases of new houses climbed to a 420,000 annual rate last month after plunging in July by the most in three years, economists projected.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December retreated 0.2% to 1,689.4 at 7:07 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities has declined 1.6% in the past four trading days. Future contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,277.

“Debt ceiling fears have seen risk aversion return,” Kit Juckes, global strategist at Societe Generale SA in London, wrote in a note today. “The underlying theme is that sentiment towards global growth has deteriorated, yet the data suggest recovery continues, albeit modestly.”

In corporate news, Carnival sank 4.5% to $33. Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to “underweight”, similar to a “sell” rating, from “equal weight”, while Natixis lowered its rating to “reduce” from “neutral”. Fourth-quarter results excluding some items will range from a loss of 3 cents a share to a profit of 3 cents, the Miami-based company said. Analysts had forecast profit of 9 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the world’s second-biggest cruise line, declined 1.5% to $38.08 in New York.

Noble added 1.7% to $38.57. The offshore rig contractor said it will spin off about half its fleet into a separate company to focus on its higher-priced rigs working in deeper waters.