Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December slid 0.1 percent to 1,975.2 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts slipped four points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 16,902.
“The Fed’s announcement this week is certainly on investors’ mind -- what will be in the statement, whether they’ll remove the phrase on keeping interest rates low for a ‘considerable time’,” Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, said. “Data at this stage is generally headed in the right direction. The U.S. is making some progress, but China and Europe have been more disappointing.”
Data today showed the Fed Bank of New York’s Empire Manufacturing gauge manufacturing index jumped to 27.54 this month from 14.69 last month. Economists estimated the reading would be 15.95, according to a Bloomberg survey.
A separate report may show U.S. industrial production, which includes mines and utilities, rose 0.3 percent in August compared with 0.4 percent the previous month. Figures may also show factory output increased 0.2 percent last month.
Fed policy makers begin a two-day meeting tomorrow as they wind down a bond-buying program and consider the timing of an increase. The central bank has said that its benchmark rate will stay low for a “considerable time” after it completes the monthly bond purchases.
The S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent last week, ending the longest streak of gains this year, as data showing the fastest increase in retail sales in four months and the highest level of consumer confidence in 14 months spurred speculation that the economy is recovering enough to justify higher interest rates.
Equities futures fell as much as 0.4 percent earlier today after data showed China’s industrial-production and retail-sales figures missed estimates.
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