LDN - Business

Stock futures point to positive session on Wall Street

[January 16, 2018] By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, helped by a rally in commodities and a weaker dollar.

The dollar slipped to a four-week low against a basket of currencies, under pressure by a recent dip in U.S. 10-year bond yields. [USD/] A weaker dollar tends to boost revenue of companies with large global presence.

Oil prices held near their highest in two-and-a-half years, while copper futures traded at four-year highs. [O/R]

The benchmark S&P 500 has climbed about 20 percent this year, on track for its best annual gains since 2013, boosted by robust economic growth and corporate earnings.

A new tax law in the United States that would benefit corporates is also expected to fuel the rally in 2018.

At 6:54 a.m. ET (154 GMT), Dow e-minis were up 44 points, or 0.18 percent, with 15,405 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.5 points, or 0.09 percent, with 44,125 contracts traded.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 16.75 points, or 0.26 percent, on volume of 11,316 contracts.

Futures of major technology shares including those of Apple, Microsoft , Facebook and Alphabet rose, pointing to a strong day for the sector.

Wall Street indexes eked out slight gains on Wednesday as advances in some major technology stocks offset losses in energy.

Trading volumes are expected to remain light in the holiday-shortened week.

Bitcoin, which has gained more than 14,000 percent this year, fell 10 percent to trade at $13,745on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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