Before the bell: S&P futures +1.2, Nasdaq futures -5.00.
U.S. stock futures pared gains as data showed that claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week.
Nasdaq-100 Index futures fell as Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer of Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other central bankers are meeting in Jackson Hole for an annual conference sponsored by the Fed Bank of Kansas City. Bernanke’s hint of a second round of asset purchases, or quantitative easing, during the same event last year spurred an eight-month rally in the S&P 500.
Company news:
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT), the world’s largest producer of chipmaking equipment, fell 6.1 percent after forecasting sales that missed analysts’ estimates;
- Apple declined 2.3 percent to $367.45 after the resignation of CEO Jobs, who transformed the company he started at age 21 from a personal-computer also-ran into the world’s largest technology company.