U.S. stock futures fell, following yesterday’s rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as American retail sales growth trailed economists’ estimates and investors watched Greece’s attempts to tame its debt crisis.

Avon Products Inc. (AVP) slumped 4.8 percent after the door-to- door cosmetics seller reported a quarterly loss. Boeing Co. (BA) added 1.2 percent after confirming a record $22.4 billion order. Gap Inc. (GPS) rallied 1.1 percent as Citigroup Inc. raised its recommendation for the largest U.S. specialty apparel chain.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March slid 0.4 percent to 1,344 at 9:10 a.m. New York time. Yesterday’s advance put the benchmark gauge for American equities less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,798 today.

“We are vulnerable to a setback,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages $54 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The market had been bid higher on the back of a remarkable array of positive surprises. I don’t view the retail sales report as bad, but rather as lack of continued better- than-expected news. In addition, there’s still fluidity to the whole European situation.”

The 0.4 percent gain in January retail sales followed little change in December that was initially reported as a 0.1 percent increase, Commerce Department figures showed today. Last month’s advance was half the 0.8 rise median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, reflecting an unexpected drop at auto dealers. Excluding cars, demand climbed 0.7 percent, more than projected.

Greek Default

Investors also watched Europe’s attempts in taming its crisis. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Europe is better prepared for a Greek default than two years ago. German investor confidence surged to a 10-month high in February as global growth improved and Europe’s debt crisis showed signs of abating. Italian and Spanish borrowing costs plunged to the lowest in at least 11 months at debt sales today as investors ignored downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service.

Avon slumped 4.8 percent to $16.69. The loss totaled $400,000, or break-even on a per share basis, compared with a profit of $229.5 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier, New York-based Avon said today in a statement. Excluding a non- cash expense of $263 million related to Silpada, profit totaled 39 cents a share. Analysts projected 53 cents, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Boeing, Gap

Boeing gained 1.2 percent to $75.72. The accord with Indonesian budget carrier PT Lion Mentari Airlines, signed today at the Singapore Airshow, includes 201 orders for the in- development 737 MAX and 29 for the extended range 737-900. Airbus SAS separately announced a contract for 35 of its planned A320neo aircraft from Kuwait-based Aviation Lease & Finance Co.

Gap climbed 1.1 percent to $21.95. The company was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Citigroup, which also lifted its share-price estimate to $26 from $24.

Dividend-paying stocks are still a “winning theme” for investors even though they have gotten off to a relatively slow start this year, according to Gina Martin Adams, a strategist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index rose 4.2 percent for the year through yesterday, the gain was 2.6 percentage points smaller than the S&P 500’s advance. By contrast, the indicator fared better than the S&P 500 in the past two years, its first back-to-back wins since 2002. The index is comprised of companies that have raised payouts for at least 25 consecutive years, relative to the S&P 500.

Payout ratios suggest companies can distribute plenty more money to shareholders, Martin Adams wrote yesterday in a report. She noted that dividends equal 27 percent of S&P 500 earnings, the lowest figure in more than a century, according to data compiled by Yale University Professor Robert Shiller.

“Companies may be only just beginning to catch on to the fact that investors are keenly interested in dividend-paying stocks,” the report said.