U.S. Stock-Index Futures Retreat as Chevron Declines, 3PAR Shares Surge

U.S. stock-index futures retreated, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may extend last week’s decline, as slower-than-forecast economic growth in Japan increased concern that the global recovery is faltering.

Chevron Corp. dropped in German trading, following oil companies lower in Europe. Corinthian Colleges Inc. fell in early New York trading as Deutsche Bank AG downgraded the stock.

September contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.4 percent to 1,071.4 at 12:36 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 0.4 percent to 10,227 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures fell 0.3 percent to 1,810.

“The market is still nervous and optimism from the second- quarter earnings reports can quickly be diminished by other factors,” said Christian Falkner, an analyst at Alpha Wertpapierhandels AG in Frankfurt. “I don’t see one single event, but a combination of bad economic figures and the statements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England on economic growth last week.”

About $1.9 trillion has been wiped from the value of global equities since the Fed said Aug. 10 that the pace of economic recovery will probably be “more modest” than forecast. On Aug. 11, the Bank of England cut its forecast for the U.K. economy, signaling that it may need more stimulus.

Gross domestic product in Japan rose an annualized 0.4 percent in the second quarter, the country’s Cabinet Office said today, pushing the economy into third place behind the U.S. and China. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for growth of 2.3 percent.

A report on manufacturing in the New York region will be published at 8:30 a.m. today.

Chevron, Corinthian Decline

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, fell 0.3 percent to $77.13 in Germany. A gauge of oil companies was the worst performing industry in Europe, dropping as much as 1.3 percent today.

Corinthian Colleges sank 2.1 percent to $6.52 after BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock to “market perform” from “outperform.”

Dell Inc. gained 0.2 percent to $12.03 in early New York trading as the personal-computer maker agreed to buy 3PAR Inc. for about $1.15 billion, net of 3PAR’s cash in an $18-a-share deal. 3PAR surged 86 percent to $17.93.