Futures rise on renewed hopes of stimulus deal

[October 19, 2020]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures climbed on Monday on hopes of a coronavirus vaccine by the year end, while remarks from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revived bets that an agreement in Washington on a fiscal package could be reached soon.

U.S. planemaker Boeing Co's <BA.N> shares rose about 1% in premarket trading as American Airlines Group <AAL.O> announced plans to return its 737 Max jets to service by the end of this year depending on certification of the aircraft from the Federal Aviation Administration.

American Airlines shares gained 0.9%.

Pelosi said on Sunday that differences remained with President Donald Trump's administration on a wide-ranging coronavirus aid package, but she was optimistic legislation could be pushed through before Election Day.

Meanwhile, Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden will debate for a final time on Thursday with about two weeks left until the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Wall Street's main indexes logged slight gains last week — the third in a row for the benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> and the blue-chip Dow <.DJI> — as news that a COVID-19 vaccine could be available by November helped offset worries about the elusive federal aid bill.

This week investors will also look to results from International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N> and Netflix Inc <NFLX.O>.

At 06:27 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis <1YMcv1> were up 0.68% at 28,6000 points and S&P 500 E-minis <EScv1> were up 0.76% at 3,488 points. Nasdaq 100 E-minis <NQcv1> rose 1% to 11,916 points.

Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co <HAL.N> posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss as this year's slump in oil prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic hit demand for its services. Its shares, which have lost about half of their value this year, were up 1.2%.

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co <AEL.N> dropped 2.8% as it said it had entered into a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management Inc <BAMa.TO> and rejected an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Athene Holding Ltd <ATH.N> and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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