U.S. stock futures point to gains after G20

Mon Nov 9, 2009 5:24am EST
 
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* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 up 0.9 percent, Dow Jones DJc1 futures up 0.8 percent and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures up 0.8 percent at 1010 GMT.

* Finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of 20 on Saturday pledged to prepare strategies to end emergency support for their economies, but to keep the aid flowing until recovery was assured. [ID:nLQ516726]

* Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N) is expected to formalise on Monday a hostile takeover bid for Britain's Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L) valued at roughly 10.2 billion pounds ($16.7 billion), sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

* General Electric Co (GE.N). and Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) have agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what has been a key obstacle in talks so far, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

* Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) is preparing to pump at least $1 billion more into Clearwire Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Sprint's joint venture partners on Clearwire, a group which includes Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), Intel Corp (INTC.O), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) and Bright House Networks LLC, are prepared to kick in another $500 million, the paper reported.

* The auto sector will be in the spotlight after data showed China's passenger cars sales in October surged 75.8 percent from a year earlier, extending the explosive growth in recent months as government incentive policies continued to lure customers.

* Oil rose more than $1 to above $78 a barrel on Monday, recouping some of the previous session's near 3 percent loss, on fears a powerful hurricane would cut U.S. oil and gas supplies and also lifted by the falling dollar.

* The dollar fell on Monday after the G20 meeting and U.S. unemployment data did little to alter the view that U.S. rates would stay low for a while, supporting shares and the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

* Japan's Nikkei average .N225 gained 0.2 percent on Monday, while European shares were up 1.5 percent in morning trade, led by financial institutions such as insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) as well as commodity-related stocks like Rio Tinto (RIO.L) as metal and oil prices rose. * On the earnings front, Electronic Arts (ERTS.O), Tesoro Corp. (TSO.N) and Rockwell Automation (ROK.N) featured among the few companies due to report results on Monday.

* U.S. stocks rose 3 percent for the week after ending Friday's session slightly higher, shrugging off government data showing the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent -- the highest in 26-1/2 years.

* The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 17.46 points, or 0.17 percent, to end at 10,023.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 2.67 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,069.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added 7.12 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 2,112.44. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)

 

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