U.S. stock-index futures declined, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may retreat for a fourth straight day, before a home sales report that may cast further doubt on the viability of the economic recovery.

Oracle Corp., Schlumberger Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. lost more than 1.3 percent to lead declines in the largest U.S. companies. Pfizer Inc. dropped 0.8 percent after its cancer treatment Sutent failed to improve overall survival in patients with a form of lung cancer.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in September tumbled 1 percent to 1,055.2 as of 8:06 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 0.9 percent to 10,070, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures dropped 1 percent to 1,791.5.

“Data has been weaker than anticipated and it raises questions about the severity of a slowdown,” said Karim Bertoni, who helps manage $18.5 billion at Banque Syz & Co. in Geneva. “It could be that we are in a soft patch before a renewed improvement in the economy, but it is very difficult to anticipate.”

The S&P 500 has dropped 12 percent since April as reports on U.S. jobs and manufacturing pointed to a slowdown and the Federal Reserve said a recovery may take longer than expected. The decline has pushed the gauge’s valuation to 14 times its companies’ reported earnings, the lowest level in about six weeks.

‘Too Early’

“Valuations are relatively undemanding, and that’s a good thing, but people don’t want to be too early in the market,” Bertoni said.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes probably plunged in July to the lowest level since March 2009, evidence the market is restrained by foreclosures and limited job growth, economists said in a Bloomberg survey before a report from the National Association of Realtors due at 10 a.m. in Washington.

European stocks retreated today, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index declining 1.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.3 percent, entering what is commonly defined as a bear market after sliding 21 percent from this year’s high.

Sweetened Bid

Dell fell 1.2 percent to $11.80. The company is readying a sweetened offer for data-storage provider 3Par after its earlier bid was bested by a $1.6 billion proposal by Hewlett-Packard Co., according to a person familiar with the matter.

The offer may be sent in the coming days, said the person, who declined to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Last week, Dell had agreed to pay about $1.15 billion. It couldn’t be determined how much Dell planned to boost its price. HP said yesterday it’s willing to pay more than twice what 3Par’s shares were worth before Dell’s bid was announced.

Pfizer lost 1.3 percent to $15.89 in Germany. The world’s largest drugmaker said its cancer treatment Sutent failed in a large-scale study to improve overall survival in patients with a form of lung cancer.

The drug, when combined with Roche AG’s Tarceva, improved the length of time patients lived without their tumor progressing, though that didn’t translate into an overall benefit in survival when compared with Tarceva alone, the New York-based company said.

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