Stock futures jump as Nike, financial stocks gains

[June 29, 2018]  By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures gained on Friday, as Nike jumped after strong results and as bank stocks rose after clearing the Federal Reserve's stress tests.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The futures, though, fell sharply before recovering after news website Axios said President Donald Trump had repeatedly told his top officials he wants the United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization.

Setting a positive tone on the last trading day of the first half of 2018 was Nike, whose shares jumped 10 percent premarket after the athletic shoe maker returned to growth in North America and gave an upbeat forecast.

Financial stocks, which snapped a 13-day losing streak on Thursday, rose after U.S. lenders cleared the second part of the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests.

Wells Fargo jumped 3.6 percent, Citigroup gained 1.8 percent, while Bank of America and JPMorgan rose about 1.5 percent.

The gains in Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and State Street were slightly lesser as they cleared the test with conditions.

At 7:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 100 points, or 0.41 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 10 points, or 0.37 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 29 points, or 0.41 percent.

After a rocky week, and indeed year, the benchmark S&P 500 is holding on to a slim 1.62 percent gain for the year, on track to post its smallest gain for the first half of any year since 2015.

The index is 5.4 percent below its record intraday high, hit on Jan. 26, as worries about trade, rising interest rates and political uncertainties have rocked the markets.

Among shares, KBH Homes rose 7.2 percent after the homebuilder's second-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.

A Commerce Department report, at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, excluding food and energy, increased 0.2 percent in May. The PCE is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation.

The report is also expected to show consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in May, less than April's 0.6 percent increase.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.