FOXNews.com: US stock futures rise as latest NABE report suggests modest growth for jobs and housing

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US stock futures rise as latest NABE report suggests modest growth for jobs and housing May 21st 2012, 13:12 NEW YORK –  Stock futures rose Monday with a new survey suggesting that economists are a bit more optimistic about housing and employment. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 51 points at 12,386. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 5.2 points to 1,296. Nasdaq composite index futures rose 12.75 points to 2,481. However, a dimmer outlook from the world's second largest home improvement chain, Lowe's Cos., may have cooled some of the enthusiasm about the report. The most recent report from the National Association for Business Economists showed that its forecasters expect modest growth for the remainder of the year, with the pace picking up in 2013. Economists hedged somewhat. The 54 economists who took part in the survey say consumer spending, business investment and gross domestic product will remain below historic norms. The report precedes a host of data coming out this week on jobs, housing and manufacturing. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce is to release data on new home sales in April. And on Thursday the Labor Department releases data on weekly jobless claims and the Commerce Department reports on demand for durable goods, while Freddie Mac, the mortgage buyer releases weekly mortgage rates. The wild card remains instability in Europe. The Group of Eight summit held in Camp David over the weekend was marked by a public shift, though without many details, about how Europe can prevent a broader tip into recession. German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined French President Francois Hollande and U.S. President Barack Obama in a statement that called for adding growth-promoting measures to painful cutbacks to fight the eurozone crisis. The U.S. continues to signal a modest recovery, but with some bumps in the road along the way. On Monday, Lowe's posted a 14 percent jump profit for its first quarter, but shares slumped when the company lowered its full-year earnings forecast. Shares of Lowe's Cos. fell 6 percent to $26.75 in electronic trading and shares of rival The Home Depot Inc. fell 1 percent. Also falling Monday before the market opened was Facebook Inc. After a glitch-filled debut in trading on Nasdaq Friday in which the social media site closed at $38.23, just 23 cents above its initial public offering price, some investors appeared to be unwilling to stick around for a second day of trading. Shares fell 4 percent, or $1.54, to $36.69, in premarket trading Monday, below the company's $38 per share IPO price. Later on Monday, JP Morgan & Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon is expected to take the stage at the Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Investor Conference in New York City. There will be a lot of people tuning in in hopes of finding out more about the loss of at least $2 billion worth of derivatives trades that have heated up the political debate about how closely banks need to be regulated.

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