Futures pick up as bond market worries ease

[January 11, 2018]   By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Thursday, a day after Wall Street closed lower for the first time this year following a spike in U.S. Treasury yields and concerns over the United States pulling out of a key trade agreement.

A jump in oil prices supported the rebound. Brent crude climbed to $69.47 a barrel, its highest since May 2015, boosted by a surprise drop in U.S. production and lower U.S. crude inventories. [O/R]

Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> was up 0.96 percent and Chevron gained 0.47 percent premarket.

U.S. Treasury yields eased from their 10-month highs after China dismissed a Bloomberg report that said its officials had recommended slowing or halting the country's U.S. bond purchases.

The report rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snapping a six-day rally.

A Reuters report that Canada is increasingly convinced U.S. President Donald Trump would soon announce an exit from the North American Free Trade Agreement weighed on investor sentiment on Wednesday.

At 6:55 a.m. ET (1155 GMT), Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 19 points, or 0.07 percent, with 16,674 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 2.25 points, or 0.08 percent, with 86,211 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 5.25 points, or 0.08 percent, on volume of 19,375 contracts.

Xerox shares <XRX.N> jumped 10 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported the copier maker was in talks for a deal with Japanese camera maker Fujifilm Holdings <4901.T> that could include a change in control of Xerox.
 

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 8, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Delta AirLines <DAL.N> was up 3.5 percent after the company reported a better-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter.

Investors will be looking at the fourth-quarter earnings season, which kicks off on Friday with big U.S. lenders JPMorgan <JPM.N> and Wells Fargo <WFC.N> reporting their numbers.

Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to increase by 11.8 percent on average, with the biggest contribution from the energy sector, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

A U.S. Labor Department report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show that producer prices increased 0.2 percent in December, compared with a 0.4 percent rise in the month before.

Separately, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits is expected to have decreased by 5,000 to 245,000 for the week ended Jan. 6.

New York Fed President William Dudley is expected to speak on economic outlook for the year, later in the day.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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