Stock futures near flat ahead of data
Stock index futures pared losses and were nearly flat on Friday after trading in some Italian banks was briefly suspended, raising new fears about the European debt crisis.
* Shares in Europe and the euro dipped against the dollar on news of the trading suspension as well as continued nervousness over Greece's ability to execute austerity measures.
* Futures had been higher earlier in the morning as appetite for riskier assets improved after Greece clinched a deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund on extra tax rises and spending cuts to plug a 3.8 billion euros funding gap.
* S&P 500 futures were off 1.7 points and in line with fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 10 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures up 4.25 points.
* Data due Friday is likely to provide further evidence on the pace of economic recovery, with durable goods orders for May and the final reading of U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) both coming at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
* Growth in durable goods orders is expected to rebound from April's steep decline, rising about 1.5 percent after a fall of 3.6 percent the month before.
* The final estimate for Q1 GDP should be revised up to 1.9 percent from a preliminary 1.8 percent, economists forecast, with most of the change coming from an upward revision to March inventories.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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