US stock futures rise before consumer confidence data

U.S. stock futures rose, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may extend a fifth straight weekly gain, before reports forecast to show consumer sentiment climbed to a one-year high and industrial production increased. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the world’s largest energy company by market value, fell in German trading. Dole Food Co. advanced 2.3 percent in late New York trading after reporting a fourth- quarter loss that was narrower than forecast. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June added 0.2 percent to 1,398.9 at 7:56 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities yesterday jumped above 1,400 for the first time in almost four years. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,197 today. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Henrik Drusebjerg, a Copenhagen-based strategist at Nordea Bank AB who helps oversee $230 billion. “To justify more advances in stocks we’ll need to see the improvement of indicators translate into higher earnings forecasts for companies.” Reports may show output from factories, mines and utilities increased, as U.S. industrial production in February rose 0.4 percent, while the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment climbed to a one-year high in March, economists in a Bloomberg survey. Consumer Prices The cost of living in the U.S. probably rose in February as gasoline prices climbed, economists said before a report today. The consumer-price index increased 0.4 percent, the most since April, after advancing 0.2 percent in January, according to the median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Exxon Mobil fell 0.4 percent to $85.75 in pre-market trading. Oil advanced for the first time in three days in New York, trimming a weekly decline, as investors bet that fuel demand will increase with U.S. economic recovery. Frontline Ltd., the tanker operator led by billionaire John Fredriksen, rose 3.2 percent to $6.38 in early New York trading. The shares climbed after a dearth of carriers lifted chartered costs for the vessels, Wells Fargo Securities LLC said. Transocean Ltd. (RIG), the biggest operator of offshore drilling rigs, increased 2.4 percent to $57.50 in early New York Trading. Dole rose 2.3 percent in late New York trading to $10.20 after reporting a fourth-quarter adjusted loss from continuing operations of 2 cents a share, beating the 12-cent loss projected by analysts on average.