U.S. stocks futures drop, Standard & Poor’s 500 Down august 30 2011

U.S. stocks futures drop, Standard & Poor’s 500 Down august 30 2011 ; U.S. stocks fell, dragging the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from a four-week high, amid concern the market rallied too much given expectations the economy may contract.



The S&P 500 slipped 0.3 percent to 1,206.39 at 9:30 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for American equities rose to the highest level since Aug. 3 yesterday after surging 7.7 percent in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 39.70 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,499.55 today.



We’re still in a soft patch,” Peter Sorrentino, a senior money manager at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees $14.8 billion. “There’s no convincing evidence of a recovery at this point.”



The S&P 500 fell 10 percent through yesterday since July 22 as better-than-estimated reports last week on durable-goods orders and housing prices contrasted with data this month on jobless claims, consumer confidence and manufacturing that spurred concern the U.S. is poised for a recession. Gauges of financial, industrial and energy shares, which are most-tied to the economy, have led declines since the index peaked in 2011 on April 29, slumping at least 16 percent.



Stock-index futures maintained losses today after a report showed the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 4.5 percent from June 2010, after dropping 4.6 percent in the 12 months ended May. The median forecast of 31 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 4.6 percent drop.



A gauge of consumer confidence probably slid to 52 in August from 59.5 previously, another survey showed.