Futures rise as bank, energy stocks gain on recovery hopes

[March 26, 2021]  By Devik Jain and Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday as investors bought undervalued energy and bank stocks betting on what is expected to be the fastest economic growth since 1984, while awaiting inflation data later in the day.

Wall Street's major indexes have swung between gains and losses this week as an end-of-quarter rebalancing of investment portfolios led to alternating boost from stocks that stand to benefit from a re-opening economy, and beaten-down technology stocks.

Big banks JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were up between 0.6% and 1.8% in premarket trading.

Oil firms Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum and Devon Energy rose between 0.7% and 2.6% as crude prices gained 2%.

Wall Street's main indexes rebounded in late-day rally on Thursday as weekly jobless claims hit their lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began and President Joe Biden highlighted the brightening economic outlook.

The S&P 500 value index which includes energy, banks and industrial stocks, has gained more than 9% this year, easily outperforming growth shares, which are down 0.4%.

The hand of a sculpture of former U.S. President George Washington is pictured with the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar

At 6:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 68 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 7.5 points, or 0.19% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.14%.

Nio Inc dropped about 1% as the Chinese electric vehicle maker said it would halt production for five working days at its Hefei plant due to a shortage in semiconductor chips.

Later in the day, investors from a report will get a glimpse of consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, in February as well as a reading on the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure.

(Reporting by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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