• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Stock futures drop on bailout anxiety, banks

NEW YORK
Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:27am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said global financial markets remain under extraordinarily stress as Congress debates a proposed $700 billion financial system bailout.

In testimony to be delivered to a Senate committee and obtained by Reuters, Bernanke said, "Action by Congress is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what could otherwise be very serious consequences for our financial markets and our economy."

S&P 500 futures fell 1.70 points but were above 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 slipped 13 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1 point.

(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Kenneth Barry)


More from Reuters

Photo

Personal spending and income rise in November

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rose for a second straight month in November as incomes recorded their biggest gain in six months, data showed on Wednesday, boosting hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

» More Top News
Malaysians participate in computer attack and defence hacking competition during The 3rd Annual Hack-In-The-Box Security Conference 2004 in Kuala Lumpur on October 6, 2004. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Commentary:

Year of the breach

Data security breaches are nasty business and should be avoided at all costs, writes Kevin Prince, a chief technology officer at Perimeter e-Security. Here's a look at the biggest breaches and blunders of 2009.  Commentary 

Technology
man walks past a stock quotation board displaying the Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo June 1, 2009. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Reuters Breakingviews:

Running out of options

Bad news for safety-oriented investors: the AAA debt market is shrinking, and what's left will leave many with less diversification and lower returns than they're used to, writes columnist Agnes Crane.  Commentary 

Reuters Breakingviews