U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise on Empire Manufacturing, Earnings

U.S. stock-index futures gained after manufacturing in the New York region unexpectedly advanced and earnings topped analyst estimates at Johnson & Johnson, State Street Corp. and Regions Financial Corp.

J&J, the world's biggest health-products maker, gained on higher sales of consumer items including Listerine and Tylenol. State Street, the world's largest money manager for institutions, rallied on first-quarter profit that rose 69 percent as it added new custody clients and rate cuts by the Federal Reserve increased lending fees. Regions Financial, Alabama's biggest bank, climbed after net income benefited from the sale of shares in Visa Inc.'s initial public offering.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June rose 3.6 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,334.9 at 8:50 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 35 to 12,351 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures added 10.5 to 1,806.75.

``Now is a good time to begin going into financials,'' Daniel Bandi, who manages about $2.5 billion as chief investment officer of Integrity Asset Management LLC in Independence, Ohio, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``You want to be there when the market senses that the end is coming, because that's going to be a pretty sharp rebound.''

The S&P 500 was poised to advance for the first time in three days after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's general economic index rose to 0.63 from a March reading of minus 22.2 that was the lowest on record. The better-than-expected reading overshadowed a gain in producer prices that was almost twice economists' forecasts.

The benchmark for U.S. equities has declined in four of the last five trading sessions after Wachovia Corp. posted an unexpected loss and profits missed analysts' estimates at Alcoa Inc. and General Electric Co.

State Street, Regions

State Street climbed $1.64 to $78.50. Net income climbed to $530 million, or $1.35 a share, from $314 million, or 93 cents, a year earlier, the Boston-based company said. Earnings included costs of 4 cents a share from its acquisition of Investors Financial Services Corp. Revenue increased 52 percent to $2.58 billion.

Regions Financial gained 84 cents to $19.40 after saying first-quarter net income increased 1.1 percent to 48 cents a share. Excluding merger-related charges, Regions earned 55 cents a share, topping the 48-cent average of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Profits at companies in the S&P 500 are expected to fall 12.3 percent in the first quarter and 3.8 percent in the second, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Airline Merger

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. rallied in Germany after agreeing to a $3.63 billion deal that would create the world's largest carrier and may unleash more industry consolidation.

Delta increased 54 cents to $11.02. The purchase of Northwest will create a total of $1 billion in new revenue and savings and won't shut any hubs, the companies said in a statement. Northwest climbed $1.09 to $12.31.

Genentech Inc. dropped 67 cents to $74.02, while Biogen Idec Inc. retreated 52 cents to $63.20. A clinical trial showed the drugmakers' Rituxan failed to reach its main goal of slowing disability for people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis after almost two years of treatment, compared with a placebo. If the trial had succeeded, it would have made Rituxan the first drug to work against the primary progressive form of MS, or PPMS.