Wall St set to open higher as oil gains, banks rebound
Wall Street was set to open higher on Friday in tandem with higher oil prices and a rebound in beaten-down bank stocks, after a punishing, widespread rout this week due to concerns about the health of the global economy. Financial stocks, led by banks, have sold off this week on mounting concerns about the impact of negative interest rates and a wave of defaults from the battered energy sector, amid strong indications of slowing global growth. The S&P 500 financial sectors is down 17.7 percent this year, with a 6.1 percent decline in the past four days alone.
JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were leading the premarket gainers on the Dow, while the top five top percentage gainers on the S&P 500 were oil companies, led by Chesapeake's 6.7 percent increase.
Prices of Brent crude, which has been in a tailspin for more than a year, were up nearly 5 percent on Friday after the United Arab Emirates' energy minister said OPEC was willing to talk about cutting production.
"Oil continues to be the main driver of the markets. It's the fear factor of oil continuing to move lower and its impact on oil debt around the world," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York. "The market will probably be led by short covering," Cardillo added.
At 8:33 a.m. ET (1333 GMT), Dow e-minis were up 170 points, or 1.09 percent, with 57,252 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were up 22.75 points, or 1.25 percent, with 388,416 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 47 points, or 1.19 percent, on volume of 49,629 contracts. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress this week that she was studying ways to "be prepared" should the rout in world stock markets, the stress in the financial sector, and slowing economic growth translating into a recession or another financial crisis. Shares of JPMorgan were up 4.5 percent at $55.45 premarket on Friday after the bank's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, bought more than $25 million of the company's stock, taking his ownership to 7.79 percent.
JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were leading the premarket gainers on the Dow, while the top five top percentage gainers on the S&P 500 were oil companies, led by Chesapeake's 6.7 percent increase.
Prices of Brent crude, which has been in a tailspin for more than a year, were up nearly 5 percent on Friday after the United Arab Emirates' energy minister said OPEC was willing to talk about cutting production.
"Oil continues to be the main driver of the markets. It's the fear factor of oil continuing to move lower and its impact on oil debt around the world," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York. "The market will probably be led by short covering," Cardillo added.
At 8:33 a.m. ET (1333 GMT), Dow e-minis were up 170 points, or 1.09 percent, with 57,252 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were up 22.75 points, or 1.25 percent, with 388,416 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 47 points, or 1.19 percent, on volume of 49,629 contracts. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress this week that she was studying ways to "be prepared" should the rout in world stock markets, the stress in the financial sector, and slowing economic growth translating into a recession or another financial crisis. Shares of JPMorgan were up 4.5 percent at $55.45 premarket on Friday after the bank's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, bought more than $25 million of the company's stock, taking his ownership to 7.79 percent.
Last Update: February 12, 2016 21:51