By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures traded near unchanged levels Friday amid uncertainty over prospects for additional stimulus by the Federal Reserve, while Apple Inc. shares were little changed in European activity after a South Korean court delivered a split decision in a patent battle with rival Samsung Electronics Co.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJU2 -0.0077% rose 10 points, or 0.1%, to 13,049.
S&P 500 Index futures SPU2 -0.06% were 0.2 point higher at 1,400.20, while Nasdaq 100 futures NDU2 +0.03% added 1.5 points to 2,762.50.
Minutes of the Fed’s July 31-Aug. 1 policy meeting released Wednesday were viewed as a signal that an additional round of monetary easing was likely around the corner, boosting equities and other risk-oriented asset classes. But enthusiasm faded after St. Louis Federal President James Bullard, a non-voter this year on the FOMC, told CNBC that the minutes were “stale” and that recent data didn’t warrant a huge policy response.
But Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who is also a non-voter this year, on Thursday said the Fed should take action to bolster the economy.
“Given all the mixed messages, the Jackson Hole symposium next Friday is building up to be a key event as we look forward to the latest download from the chairman himself,” said James Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank, referring to a scheduled Aug. 31 speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
European shares edged lower, with the Stoxx 600 Europe index XX:SXXP -0.13% falling 0.1%. Fading hopes for stimulus from the Fed and nervousness ahead of a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel contributed to the softer tone, strategists said. Read: Europe stocks off on banks, miners; Nokia rises .
Samaras has argued that Greece should see an extension of the deadline for implementing additional austerity measures and reforms.
Merkel and French President François Hollande, who met in Berlin Thursday night, urged Greece to stick to reforms and said any discussion of making bailout terms more flexible can come only after the country's troika of international lenders issue a report next month.
“While a similar tone following her meeting with Samaras would defuse escalation by pushing out the day of reckoning further into the future, such an outcome may still be seen as negative for the euro and wider risk appetite,” said Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX.
“Investors appear to be increasingly frustrated by the lack of directional cues—whether positive or negative—from euro-zone officials and markets may be approaching a juncture where price action forces policy once again,” Spivak said.
Shares of Apple AAPL -0.56% traded at $662.33 in Frankfurt, down 30 cents from their U.S. close on Thursday. A three-judge panel in South Kora ruled that Apple had violated two Samsung patents, while Samsug violated one Apple patent. Read: Apple, Samsung tie in Korea verdict .
The court ordered both companies to halt sales of electronic products that infringe patents in South Korea and ordered Apple to pay a nominal 20 million won ($17,650) for each of its patent violations. Samsung was ordered to pay Apple 25 million won.
Shares of Autodesk Inc. ADSK +0.62% may be in focus after it reported disappointing sales and issued a revenue target well below Wall Street expectations after Thursday’s close.
The economic calendar features July durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast a 3% rise after an increase of 1.3% in June.
Spivak said a strong figure could serve to undercut sentiment, since it would be seen as another argument against additional easing by the Fed.
Nymex crude-oil futures CLV2 -0.41% slipped 10 cents to $96.17 a barrel. Gold futures GCZ2 -0.32% declined 50 cents to $1,672.30 an ounce.
The dollar index DXY +0.27% , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.2% to 81.494.
The euro EURUSD -0.45% traded at $1.2535, down 0.2%. The dollar fetched 78.55 Japanese yen USDJPY -0.02% , little changed from Thursday.
William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt.
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