US stock index futures little changed ahead of data on jobless claims and durable-goods orders

U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, as investors awaited data on jobless claims and durable-goods orders. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed the most in over a month.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December slipped less than 0.1 percent to 1,990.4 at 7:28 a.m. in New York. The benchmark equity gauge climbed 0.8 percent yesterday, its biggest gain since Aug. 18, as new-home sales jumped to a six-year high, and health-care shares rallied with producers of consumer staples. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 17,142 today.

A report at 8:30 a.m. Washington time may show that first-time applications for jobless benefits increased to 296,000 in the week through Sept. 20 from 280,000 in the prior period, according to economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Separate data may show bookings for goods meant to last at least three years slumped 18 percent in August after surging 22.6 percent in July, a Bloomberg survey of economists showed.

Jabil rose 5.5 percent to $22. The maker of electronics for Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. forecast first-quarter core earnings of 41 cents to 53 cents a share, exceeding analysts’ estimates for 40 cents.

Apple retreated 0.5 percent to $101.28 after saying in an e-mailed statement that it has devised a workaround for iPhone 6 users who lost voice service or other features after updating their devices. The company said it will release a new version of the operating system in the next few days.

Hewlett-Packard fell 0.7 percent to $35.70. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that HP, one of the biggest technology suppliers to the Canadian government, is facing a ban following a U.S. bribery conviction in April involving money paid to Russian government officials.

HB Fuller Co. (FUL) slid 5.1 percent to $41.73. The maker of adhesives forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of no more than 70 cents a share, missing the 85-cent analyst estimate.

Yahoo! Inc. dipped 1 percent to $39.49.

The Sunnyvale, California-based Internet company was cut to sector perform, the equivalent of a hold rating, from outperform, similar to a buy, at RBC Capital Markets.