Futures slightly higher ahead of Yellen speech

[December 19, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Monday as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, less than a week after the Fed raised interest rates for only the second time since the financial crisis.

Yellen will be speaking on "the State of the Job Market" at 1:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT) at the University of Baltimore.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, weighed by a more than 4 percent drop in Oracle <ORCL.O> shares and news that a Chinese Navy warship seized a U.S. underwater drone.

Still, the Dow posted its sixth straight week of gains, its longest streak in a year. The blue-chip index remains less than 1 percent away from the 20,000 mark.

U.S. stocks have been on a tear since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with the S&P rising 5.7 percent on bets that President-elect Donald Trump's expected deregulation and infrastructure spending will boost the economy.

However, there are some concerns that the rally may run out of steam as policy will take time to be implemented and will likely change as it makes its way through Congress.

Oil prices were higher as a weaker dollar and the delay of new Libyan oil exports boosted benchmarks, amid expectations of tighter crude supply going into 2017. [O/R]

The dollar pulled away from the 14-year highs it hit last week on expectations of a faster pace of U.S. monetary tightening, as investors booked profits.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Apple <AAPL.O> shares fell 0.27 percent to $115.97 in premarket trading after the iPhone maker said it would launch a legal challenge this week to a record $14 billion EU tax demand.

Trivago <TRVG.O> was up 3.97 percent at $12.32 after the hotel booking platform made its market debut on Friday. The shares rose as much as 12.9 percent in their first day of trading.

Futures snapshot at 7:35 a.m. ET:

Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 25 points, or 0.13 percent, with 13,356 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 2.5 points, or 0.11 percent, with 58,676 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 5.75 points, or 0.12 percent, on volume of 10,019 contracts.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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