New York Stock Exchange

(Bloomberg)  U.S. stock futures dropped, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will pare Tuesday’s rally, as Italy’s borrowing costs surged at an auction of 6.5 billion euros ($8.1 billion) of Treasury bills.

Dell Inc. (DELL), the third-largest personal-computer maker, advanced 2.7 percent in German trading after the company announced it will pay a dividend for the first time. Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) rose 1.1 percent as the world’s biggest tobacco company said it will buy back $18 billion in stock over the next three years.

S&P 500 futures expiring in September slipped 0.3 percent to 1,316.5 at 10:44 a.m. in London. U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 jumping 1.2 percent, amid speculation the Federal Reserve will take steps to stimulate the economy, with so-called quantitative easing. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 22 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,516 Wednesday.

“There are only two things on the minds of investors,” said Manish Singh, the head of investment at London-based Crossbridge Capital, which has more than $2 billion under management. “On the one hand, markets see QE3 on the horizon and are likely to continue to limp through until we see clearer signs of that happening. On the other hand, you have the crisis in Europe, where every solution raises new questions and where nobody expects a quick resolution.”