Stock futures rise after China rally, Italy's budget relief

[October 22, 2018]   By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose at the start of a busy week for U.S. earnings on Monday, feeding into a rise in global stocks on hopes of economic stimulus in China and easing tensions over Italy's debt.

Shanghai's benchmark blue-chip index <.CSI300> surged over 4 percent after China promised to provide stimulus to stabilize its economy and offset the impact of U.S. tariffs, which lifted U.S. listed shares of Chinese stocks.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese heavyweights Alibaba <BABA.N>, JD.com <JD.O> and Baidu <BIDU.O> rose between 2.9 percent and 4 percent in premarket trading.

"Shanghai stocks rose over 4 percent, lifting the global markets spirits ahead the long list of Q3 earning reports due this week," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York, wrote in a note.

Investors also took relief from a Moody's report that maintained Italy's sovereign rating outlook at stable, boosting shares in European stock markets.

The Italian Treasury said it did not intend to further expand the budget deficit in 2020 and 2021, easing some worries about the country's debt.

At 7:32 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 102 points, or 0.4 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 10.5 points, or 0.38 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 54.25 points, or 0.76 percent.

The latest developments helped U.S. markets enter the week with gains as investors await earnings from about 160 S&P 500 companies this week, including those of Microsoft <MSFT.O>, Alphabet <GOOGL.O> and Amazon <AMZN.O>.

A Trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Helped by a strong economy and deep corporate tax cuts, profit of S&P 500 companies are expected to grow 22 percent in the third quarter, according to Refinitiv data.

Halliburton <HAL.N> climbed 1.9 percent after the oilfield services provider posted quarterly profit that topped estimates.

Intel gained 1.7 percent after Nomura upgraded the stock to "buy", according to a trader.

The so-called FAANG group of members - Facebook <FB.O>, Apple <AAPL.O>, Amazon <AMZN.O>, Netflix <NFLX.O> and Google-parent Alphabet gained between 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent.

Hasbro <HAS.O> dropped 7.2 percent after its quarterly revenue missed estimates, as the U.S. toymaker's efforts to cushion sales disruption from the bankruptcy of retailer Toys 'R' Us fell short.

Rival Mattel <MAT.O> also fell 2.6 percent.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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