NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � U.S. stock futures erased Wednesday gains after the Commerce Department reported orders for long-lasting U.S. goods climbed 2.2% in February, less than expected.
�While there is a lot of optimism about the U.S. economy, GDP growth is still only going to be around 2%� in the first quarter, emailed Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
The rise in bookings for longer-lasting goods is the fourth monthly gain in five, and follows a revised 3.6% decline in January, the government�s report showed.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average �were unchanged at 13,124. S&P 500 Index futures �fell 1 point to 1,405 and Nasdaq 100 futures �were nearly flat at 2,776.2.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech on Monday, warned recent improvement in the U.S. labor market may not be sustained. The Fed chief was seen as leaving the door open to a further round of monetary stimulus if needed, providing a boost for equities and other assets that benefit from increased risk appetite, said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets. Bernanke also spoke Tuesday, delivering the latest in a series of lectures on Fed history, and reiterated his worries about the economic outlook in a television interview.
Equity markets took a breather on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA �fell 43.9 points to 13,197.73. The blue-chip index remains up 8% year to date. The S&P 500 SPX �fell 3.99 points to end at 1,412.52, while the Nasdaq COMP �lost 2.22 points to 3,120.35.
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The approach of the end of the quarter could make for more active trading, Razaqzada said, as fund managers engage in a degree of �window dressing,� or reconfiguring equity portfolios to show they�re holding the top-performing stocks.
In corporate news, Bank of America Corp. BAC �is assembling an international advisory board that would provide Chief Executive Brian Moynihan with guidance on global strategy, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Also in the financial sector, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS �agreed to change its board structure to persuade a union pension fund to drop a shareholder proposal that could have forced Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein to give up his job as chairman, news reports said. Under the deal, Goldman will appoint a lead director, but shareholders won�t get to vote at the firm�s annual meeting in May on the proposal to replace Blankfein with an independent chairman, the Journal reported.
Within other corporate news, shares of Pentair Inc. PNR �rose in preopen trading after the firm said it would merge with the flow-control business of Tyco International Ltd. TYC �via a stock-swap deal.
European equities saw choppy price action, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP �slipping 0.3%.
Chinese shares tumbled Wednesday, leading a broad decline for major Asian markets Wednesday, with the Shanghai Composite CN:000001 �falling 2.7% for its worst one-day loss since November.
Crude-oil futures for May delivery �fell $1.22 to $106.11 a barrel in electronic trade.
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