S&P 500 advances to record; consumer confidence, real estate reports awaited

U.S. stock futures were little changed, after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced to a record, as investors awaited reports on consumer confidence and real estate prices.

Express Scripts Holding Co. gained 2.1 percent in late New York trading after increasing its 2013 earnings forecast. Newmont Mining Corp. lost 1.4 percent in Germany as the biggest U.S. gold producer reported first-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates. Masco Corp. slipped 3.3 percent as earnings trailed analysts' projections.

S&P 500 futures expiring in June dropped less than 0.1 percent to 1,588.1 at 10:26 a.m. in London. The equity gauge climbed 0.7 percent to a record high of 1,593.61 Monday as pending home sales increased and optimism grew that central banks will maintain stimulus plans. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 11 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,759 Tuesday.

A report at 10 a.m. in New York may show confidence among U.S. consumers advanced in April. The Conference Board's index rose to 61 from 59.7 a month earlier, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Another release at 9 a.m. may show residential real estate prices increased in February. The S&P/Case-Schiller index of property values in 20 cities advanced 9 percent from the same month in 2012, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The gauge rose 8.1 percent in January.

QUARTERLY REPORTS

Pfizer Inc., Franklin Resources Inc. and 37 other S&P 500 companies report quarterly earnings Tuesday. Of the 280 that have reported so far, 74 percent have exceeded analysts' predictions, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Profit at S&P 500 companies rose 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, according to analysts' projections compiled by Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 is heading for a sixth monthly advance, the longest streak of gains since September 2009. The bull market in U.S. equities entered its fifth year last month. The S&P 500 has surged 136 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better- than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed may consider maintaining its bond-buying program at a two-day meeting starting Tuesday, after a report last week showed the world's largest economy grew less than forecast in the first quarter.

The central bank will probably continue its "aggressive" easing program this year, Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh said Monday in a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

The European Central Bank will cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent on May 2, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

EXPRESS FORECAST

Express Scripts advanced 2.1 percent to $59.68 after saying it sees 2013 earnings excluding one-time items in the range of $4.23 to $4.33 a share, higher than its previous forecast of $4.20 to $4.30 a share. The largest U.S. processor of drug prescriptions reported first-quarter sales of $26.06 billion, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $25.5 billion in a Bloomberg survey.

Newmont Mining declined 1.4 percent to $33.49 after saying late Monday that first-quarter net income fell to $315 million, or 63 cents a share, from $490 million, or 97 cents, a year earlier. Earnings excluding one-time items were 71 cents a share, trailing the 76 cent-average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Masco slid 3.3 percent to $19.74 in German trading after the insulation maker posted first-quarter earnings excluding one-time items of 13 cents a share, missing the 14 cents forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.