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Futures rally after BOJ ramps up stimulus

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[October 31, 2014] By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rallied on Friday after the Bank of Japan significantly ramped up its stimulus program just days after the U.S. Federal Reserve wound down its own package of economic incentives.

* The BOJ's board voted 5-4 to accelerate purchases of Japanese government bonds, increasing its holdings at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($723.4 billion), while tripling its purchases of exchange-traded funds and real-estate investment trusts.

* At the same time, Japan's $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund announced new allocations for its portfolio, including raising its holdings of domestic and foreign stock holdings to 25 percent each from 12 percent. A Nikkei newspaper report on this announcement on Thursday contributed to an afternoon rally in U.S. stocks.

* Japan's Nikkei <.N225> rose 4.8 percent, while S&P 500 e-mini futures rallied shortly before 1:00 a.m. New York time in a sharp volume increase.

* The U.S. economic schedule is busy on Friday with key inflation data and a quarterly gauge of worker compensation due at 8:30 a.m. EDT as well as a Chicago survey of business activity and a measure of consumer sentiment both shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.

Futures snapshot at 6:59 a.m. EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 22 points, or 1.11 percent, with 281,269 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were gaining 60 points, or 1.47 percent, in volume of 47,050 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 187 points, or 1.09 percent, with 47,966 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)


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