* Euro zone finance ministers set to meet, euro falls
* Bernanke says Fed could buy more bonds
* Futures off: S&P 3.2 pts, Dow 11 pts, Nasdaq 7 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Recasts, writes through, adds quote, details, byline)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures
slipped on Monday on jitters about the European debt crisis and
with investors set to lock in profits after a strong market
performance last week.
Euro zone finance ministers met amid pressure to increase
the size of a 750 billion euro ($1,006 billion) safety net for
debt-stricken members in hopes of halting potential contagion
to other countries. For details, see []
The euro fell, pressuring equities. Stocks and the euro
have moved in tandem of late with the euro looked at as a proxy
for debt concerns.
"The U.S. showed you need to take extremely strong actions
to overcome the threat of a broad financial crisis," said Rick
Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital
Management in New York.
"The feeling was Europe has only gone about two-thirds of
the way, and there was some hope they will go to a full
throttle protection plan."
Investors also took in weekend comments from U.S. Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He told the CBS television
program "60 Minutes" the Fed could end up increasing its
commitment to buy $600 billion in U.S. government bonds if the
economy fails to respond or unemployment stays too high.
[]
Bernanke also said it would take four to five years for the
country's unemployment rate to come down to what he called more
"normal" levels of about 5 percent to 6 percent.
"Listening to Bernanke, it was clear we're in no way out of
the woods," said Meckler.
Quantitative easing has been a double-edged sword for
equities as it has helped inflate asset prices but also
signaled the recovery is still fragile.
"A lot of the recent optimism was really too high and in
part brought about by the recovery in stocks. Investors have to
separate corporate profits, which drive stock prices, from the
general economic scene," said Meckler.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> dipped 3.2 points and were below
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> lost 11
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> slipped 7 points.
Stocks closed their best week in a month on Friday, despite
data showing tepid jobs growth. The S&P 500 rose 3 percent last
week.
The S&P 500 faces strong technical resistance at about
1,228, near a recent high of more than two years and also the
61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's slide from
October 2007 to March 2009, a key technical indicator.
Support for the benchmark kicks in at 1,200, which was
recently a stubborn resistance point, and the top end of its
recent trading range. The S&P closed at 1,224.71 on Friday.
In equities news, hedge fund manager William Ackman is
ready to finance an offer by Borders Group Inc <BGP.N> for
rival Barnes & Noble Inc <BKS.N>, according to a regulatory
filing. Barnes & Noble jumped 15.7 percent to $15.36, while
Borders was up 2.8 percent at $1.11. []
Pfizer Inc's <PFE.N> chief executive stepped down
unexpected, acknowledging the personal toll involved in
steering the world's largest drugmaker through a multibillion
dollar merger, the company said late Sunday. Shares were off
0.7 percent to $16.60. []
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
