Futures up as oil prices top $55

[December 05, 2016]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were higher on Monday as oil prices topped $55 a barrel for the first time in 16 months, and investors shrugged off the defeat of a referendum in Italy for constitutional reforms.

Futures lost ground slightly on Sunday after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following the rejection.

However, world stocks, including Italian shares, reversed course to trade higher on Monday as investors bet against immediate snap elections in the country.

Brent crude prices rose 1.29 percent to $55.12, taking the total gain to 19 percent since Wednesday, when OPEC and other producers struck a deal to limit output to prop up prices. [O/R]

If active trading follows movement on futures, the Dow will open at a record intraday high, its eighth since Nov. 10. The index has marked four straight weeks of gains, benefiting from a rotation into sectors such as financials, which are likely to gain from President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

Wall Street closed little changed on Friday as investors booked profits off bank stocks, despite a strong payrolls report that strengthened the prospects of an interest rate hike next week.

Investors will focus on the ISM non-manufacturing Purchasing Mangers' index, which is likely to indicate that activity in the U.S. services sector rose slightly in November from the previous month. The report is due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT)

A host of Federal Reserve presidents are scheduled to speak at various events during the day, including New York Fed President William Dudley at 8:30 a.m. ET and his St. Louis counterpart James Bullard later in the day.

Shares of companies moving premarket included those of Apple, up 0.6 percent at $110.55, after the iPhone maker made its most comprehensive statement about its investment in self-driving cars.

Energy Transfer  dropped 6.9 percent to $32 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned down a permit for the company's controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota.

Futures snapshot at 6:58 a.m. ET:

Dow e-minis  were up 91 points, or 0.47 percent, with 54,228 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.75 points, or 0.44 percent, with 222,886 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24.75 points, or 0.52 percent, on volume of 35,521 contracts.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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