U.S. stocks little changed

U.S. stocks rose and fall as better-than-forecast economic reports offset concern that European debt-crisis talks were stalling. Stocks erased gains as a European Union official said EU leaders may ask national finance ministers to determine the capacity of the expanded European Financial Stability Facility by the end of November. The leaders meet in Brussels today and will back two EFSF leveraging options set out last week, the official said on condition of anonymity because the meeting hasn’t taken place yet. Earlier today, Germany’s lower house of parliament approved a plan to increase the capacity of the European bailout fund. European leaders hold the 14th crisis summit in 21 months today to discuss the Greek bailout, shoring up banks and strengthening the 440 billion-euro ($613 billion) rescue fund.

Stock futures extended gains as orders for U.S. durable goods excluding transportation equipment rose in September by the most in six months. A separate report showed purchases of new houses increased more than forecast in September as discounted prices lured buyers in some parts of the country.

Dow 11,752.79 +46.17 +0.39%, Nasdaq 2,625.61 -12.81 -0.49%, S&P 500 1,229.70 +0.65 +0.05%

Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent, the most among 10 industry groups, after dropping as much as 0.1 percent.

Boeing (ВА) gained 4.3 percent to $66.45. The company topped profit estimates for the quarter when it delivered the first 787 Dreamliner and said the new model’s production costs will be spread over 1,100 planes, matching analysts’ projections.

Amazon.com tumbled 12 percent to $200.96. The company is sacrificing profit margins in search of sales volume and market- share gains. Amazon will sell its Kindle Fire tablet for as low as $199, less than half the price of Apple Inc.’s cheapest iPad.

Ford Motor Co. dropped 5.6 percent to $11.73. The company said its automotive operating profit margin may fall this year to 5.7 percent from 6.1 percent last year and 6.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, primarily because of a loss on commodity hedges.

MetLife Inc. slumped 1.4 percent to $32.37. The largest U.S. life insurer said its plan to increase the dividend and resume share repurchases was rejected by the Federal Reserve. “We are disappointed that we cannot commence increased capital actions now,” Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian said in a statement yesterday.