Stock futures slip as World Bank cuts global growth forecast; Synaptics surges on acquisition

U.S. stock futures slipped after the World Bank downgraded its forecast for the global economy this year, citing a bitter American winter and the political crisis in Ukraine.

KEEPING SCORE: Less than an hour before the start of regular trading, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 66 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 16,876. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures dropped eight points to 1,941 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 16 points to 3,783.

GLOBAL GROWTH: In an outlook released late Tuesday, the World Bank said it said it expects the world economy to grow faster — 2.8 per cent this year versus 2.4 per cent in 2013. But its new estimate is weaker than the 3.2 per cent expansion it had predicted in January.

TAKING PAUSE: The stock market took a breather on Tuesday, logging a small loss, after a string of record closes. After slumping earlier this year, the stock market has been on a slow and steady climb since April. In recent weeks, a number of encouraging economic reports have helped push the S&P 500 up 5.5 per cent this year.

TOUCH SCREEN TECH: Synaptics jumped $12.70, or 19 per cent, to $79.22 in premarket trading Wednesday after the maker of touch-screen technology said it would buy smartphone and tablet chipmaker Renesas SP Drivers for $475 million. Because of the deal, Synaptics also raised its fourth-quarter revenue outlook.

BONDS AND COMMODITIES: As stocks fell, government bonds rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which falls when prices rise, dropped to 2.63 per cent from 2.65 per cent on Tuesday. The price of oil was little changed from Tuesday at $104.34.