U.S. Stock Futures Trade Lower

By Saumya Vaishampayan 

U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday, extending losses after the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its first quarterly loss in a year.

S&P 500 futures slipped nine points, or 0.4%, to 2052. E-mini Dow futures fell 70 points, or 0.4%, to 17633, and e-mini Nasdaq-100 futures lost 16 points, or 0.4%, to 4314.

Stock futures remained lower after a soft reading on private-sector employment last month. Private payrolls rose by just 189,000 in March, according to data compiled by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected an increase of 225,000. Later in the morning, readings on manufacturing and construction spending are also due.

Stocks fell Tuesday, pulling the Dow industrials into negative territory for the first quarter. The Dow declined 1.1% to 17776.12. The S&P fell 0.9% to 2067.89 and the Nasdaq lost 0.9% to 4900.88.

The S&P 500 eked out a quarterly gain of 0.4% and the Nasdaq gained 3.5% in the period, with both indexes notching their ninth quarter in a row of gains. Still, the S&P's first-quarter advance was the smallest in those nine quarters of gains amid soft U.S. economic performance at the start of the year and concerns about first-quarter earnings.

"Overall, the U.S. is in decent shape," said Laura LaRosa, director of portfolio management at Glenmede. "We will probably have positive returns this year, just not what we've seen in the last couple of years, " she added.

European stocks were bolstered by better than expected data that showed eurozone manufacturing activity in March grew at the fastest pace in 10 months. Germany's DAX gained 0.6% and France's CAC 40 rose 1%.

"The valuations in Europe are much more attractive right now," said Ms. LaRosa of Glenmede, adding that European stocks will likely outpace their U.S. counterparts this year.

The dollar took a breather, with the euro rising to $1.0793 from $1.0735 on Tuesday.

In other markets, gold futures rose 0.7% to $1191.70 an ounce. Crude-oil futures rose 0.6% to $47.90 a barrel.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 1.905% from 1.930% on Tuesday.

In corporate news, Macerich Co. rejected Simon Property Group Inc.'s "best and final" bid, saying the offer undervalued the company. Simon subsequently withdrew its $16.8 billion offer. Macerich shares fell 5.2% in premarket trade and Simon shares were little changed.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at [e-mail]

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