U.S. Stock-Index Futures Increase

- U.S. stock-index futures advanced as investors speculated Federal Reserve policy makers will lower interest rates at their meeting next month.
Seagate Technology rose in Europe after the world's largest maker of hard-disk drives lifted its sales and profit forecasts for this quarter. Amgen Inc. gained as a U.S. judge ruled that Roche Holding AG's new anemia drug infringes an Amgen patent.

The central bank on Aug. 17 acknowledged the increasing risk to economic growth in the wake of subprime mortgage defaults, when it unexpectedly reduced the rate it charges banks.

``A cut is very likely,'' said Thomas Tilse, head of portfolio strategy at Cominvest Asset Management in Frankfurt which has the equivalent of $82 billion under management. ``That would be the signal that the pressure weighing on the market has peaked, paving the way for a better performance.''

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September added 6.2 to 1,444.5 as of 11:53 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 54 to 13,149. Nasdaq-100 Index futures advanced 12.25 to 1,920.

Traders see a 64 percent chance the central bank will lower its benchmark by a quarter percentage point to 5 percent at its Sept. 18 meeting, futures contracts indicate. The odds of a half- point reduction are 36 percent.

U.S. stocks posted their biggest drop in three weeks yesterday on weaker consumer confidence and speculation tighter credit markets will hurt bank earnings. The declines erased all of last week's gains.

`Unfounded Fear'

``People are trading on unfounded fear,'' said Fritz Meyer, senior investment officer at Houston-based AIM Investments, which manages $150 billion. ``Stocks are reflecting much more of a perception that there may be a problem rather than there is a problem with an economic slowdown immediately ahead.''

Seagate shares rose $1.02 to $25.48 in Germany. First- quarter revenue will be as much as $3.25 billion, up from a previous forecast of as much as $3 billion, the company said yesterday in a statement. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated, on average, $2.95 billion in sales.

Profit in the three months ending Sept. 28 will be 57 cents to 61 cents a share, compared with a previous projection of 35 cents to 39 cents, Seagate said. Analysts had forecast 44 cents.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. today raised its share-price estimate for Seagate 9.1 percent to $30.

Amgen, Google

Amgen gained $1.02 to $50.03. The world's biggest biotechnology company is using its patents to try to prevent Switzerland's Roche from entering the U.S. market with Mircera, which would compete with Amgen's Epogen and Aranesp.

Google Inc. advanced $1.45 to $507.85. The operator of the most popular Internet search engine said Chief Financial Officer George Reyes will leave by year-end and will assist in finding his successor.

Oracle Corp., the world's third-biggest software maker, added 7 cents to $19.43. SAP AG, the German software maker sued by Oracle over alleged theft of program codes, wants a ``prompt resolution'' of the case and favors a settlement, it said in a statement filed to the U.S. District Court in San Francisco yesterday.

PDL BioPharma Inc. dropped $3.73 to $19.87. The developer of technology for cancer medicines said it will divest all of its marketed products, stop developing its lead drug candidate and slash a ``substantial'' number of jobs in a strategic overhaul.

Recommendation Cut

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its recommendation on the stock to ``neutral'' from ``overweight.''

Novell Inc. increased 1 cent to $6.66. The provider of networking software may report profit of 2 cents a share excluding some items after the 4 p.m. close of U.S. exchanges, according to the average of 9 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Big Lots Inc., the largest U.S. seller of discontinued goods, reported second-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share, excluding some items, beating the 12-cent mean estimate of 10 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The stock didn't trade in Europe.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is expected to report last week's index of applicants to purchase a home or refinance debt at 7 a.m. New York time. Mortgage applications dropped 5.5 percent the prior week. There was no survey estimate from economists.