November 25th, 2011

U.S. stock futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will decline for a seventh day, as a surge in Italian borrowing costs at an auction intensified concern about a worsening in Europe’s debt crisis.

Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley each retreated 0.7 percent, pacing losses in financial shares. Halliburton Co. (HAL) dropped 0.3 percent as oil slumped. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), the world’s largest Internet retailer, rose 0.1 percent.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December decreased 0.7 percent to 1,152.10 at 8:32 a.m. New York time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,168. The U.S. stock market was closed yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday and trading will end at 1 p.m. today.

“It is becoming apparent that European bonds are suffering from a buyer’s strike where institutions no longer want to fund European debt,” Mark Grant, a managing director at Southwest Securities Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said in an e-mail. “The equity markets in the United States may test the lows again as there is increasing concern of a major recession in Europe.”

The S&P 500 was headed for a second week of losses, the longest losing streak since September as the burden of government debt grew around the world. The cost of insuring European sovereign bonds against default rose to a record.

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