NEW YORK, June 25 — Stock index futures rose today, indicating the S&P 500 may stem its recent slide after comments from China’s central bank eased recent concerns about a credit crunch in the world’s second-largest economy.

The People’s Bank of China said it would guide market rates to reasonable levels and expected seasonal factors, which caused a recent spike in interbank market rates to gradually fade.

The S&P 500 yesterday closed at its lowest level since April 22 after China’s central bank said the country’s banks need to do a better job of managing their cash and due to continued worries about a reduction in stimulus measures from the US Federal Reserve.

But equities pared losses late in the session after two Fed officials downplayed the notion of an imminent end to monetary stimulus. The benchmark S&P index has fallen 4.8 per cent since the Fed signaled last week that it may begin to lessen stimulus should its economic forecasts hold true, including a 1.4 per cent drop the day of the announcement.

“The efforts by the Fed and the Chinese central bank to calm the markets seem to be, at least for now, working,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

Investors will also eye data on durable goods orders and the housing market for signs of strength in the US economy, which may lend weight to the Fed’s economic viewpoint.

“The key is modest growth — you have Fed speakers beginning to fight the markets, basically indicating they don’t want a full force panic scenario to set in because that would obviously slow economic activity,” said Cardillo.

Durable goods orders for May are due at 8.30am (1230 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 3.0 per cent rise in orders in May compared with a 3.5 per cent rise in April.

S&P 500 futures rose 11.8 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 63 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 22 points.

Data expected at 9am (1300 GMT) includes the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index for April and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s home price index for April. The S&P/Case Shiller index is expected to show a rise of 1.2 per cent versus the 1.1 per cent climb in the prior month.

New home sales data for May is expected along with June consumer confidence at 10am (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast home sales at a total of 462,000 annualised units compared with 454,000 in April. Consumer confidence is expected to show a reading of 75.4 against the 76.2 announced in May.

Lennar Corp climbed 6.5 per cent to US$37.25 (RM119) in premarket trade after the No. 3 US homebuilder reported a 53 per cent jump in quarterly revenue as it sold more homes at higher prices, and said orders rose 27 per cent.

Walgreen Co fell 3.5 per cent to US$46.35 in premarket trade after reporting weaker-than-expected results, citing slow front-end sales and a challenging economy.

European shares rebounded from seven-month lows on the supportive comments from central banks.

Chinese shares tumbled deeper into bear market territory, dragging down other Asian bourses, as worries spread that a cash squeeze could threaten China’s economic growth and take the shine off an emerging US recovery. — Reuters