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US STOCKS-Futures near flat ahead of data; Italian banks eyed

Published 06/24/2011, 08:27 AM
Updated 06/24/2011, 08:32 AM
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* Trading briefly suspended in some Italian banks

* Durable goods orders, GDP on tap

* Futures: S&P off 0.1 pt, Dow off 17 pts, Nasdaq up 4.5

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Adds byline, quote)

NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Dow and the S&P 500 index futures fell on Friday after trading in some Italian banks was briefly suspended, raising new fears about the European debt crisis.

Shares in Europe and the euro dipped against the dollar on news of the trading suspension as well as continued nervousness over Greece's ability to execute austerity measures. Italian banks UniCredit SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo fell sharply as worries circulated about their capital positions and the deepening euro zone crisis. Trading in the banks was briefly suspended. For details, see [ID:nWEB7112] and [ID:nLDE75N0SC]

Futures had been higher earlier in the morning as appetite for riskier assets improved after Greece clinched a deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund on extra tax rises and spending cuts to plug a 3.8 billion euros funding gap. [ID:nLDE75M1V1]

Data due Friday is likely to provide further evidence on the pace of economic recovery, with durable goods orders for May and the final reading of U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) both coming at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).

Growth in durable goods orders is expected to rebound from April's steep decline, rising about 1.5 percent after a fall of 3.6 percent the month before.

The final estimate for Q1 GDP should be revised up to 1.9 percent from a preliminary 1.8 percent, economists forecast, with most of the change coming from an upward revision to March inventories.

S&P 500 futures were off 0.1 point and below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 17 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures up 4.5 points.

U.S. stocks closed way off session lows Thursday but lingering economic uncertainty ultimately drove the S&P lower, pushing the index within less than a half point of its 200-day moving average -- a line the bulls have been able to hold since last September.

"It is difficult to become overly bullish or overly bearish at current S&P 500 levels." Ari Wald, equity strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, wrote in a research note.

"On one hand, market breadth has not picked up enough on the downside to suggest significant internal deterioration. On the other, weak upside attempts despite 200-day moving average support and an oversold inflection by near-term momentum gauges suggests the correction is still intact."

He added that key levels to monitor on the S&P 500 would be 1,230 on the downside and 1,360 on the upside. The S&P closed at 1,283.50 on Thursday.

Oracle Corp shares lost 4.7 percent to $30.97 in premarket trade. On Thursday, the software maker posted disappointing quarterly results, particularly in hardware sales, sparking concerns about a sharper-than-expected slowdown in tech spending. (Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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