Futures cheered by lifting of
virus-related curbs
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[May 18, 2020]
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures surged
on Monday with gains spread across stocks ranging from autos to oil as
many of the hard-hit countries eased restrictions on business and social
activities, boosting hopes of a global economic recovery. |
Floor traders work space is seen on the trading floor after the closing
bell, following traders testing positive for Coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S.,
March 19, 2020./File Photo |
General Motors Co <GM.N> rose 2.3% and Ford Motor Co <F.N> 1.4%
in premarket trading as they prepared to reopen their North
American factories in a push to restart work in an industry that
accounts for about 6% of U.S. economic activity.
Oil and gas heavyweights Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>, Chevron Corp
<CVX.N> and Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N> rose between 2.5%
and 5% after oil prices surged on the prospect of higher demand.
[O/R]
Investors were also encouraged by Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell's views on a recovery and hints on more monetary
stimulus if required. He is slated to appear before the Senate
Banking Committee on Tuesday to discuss how economic rescue
efforts are working.
Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Friday as
investors weighed worries about Sino-U.S. trade relations and
weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data against growing optimism
that easing coronavirus restrictions would boost activity this
month.
However, they posted a weekly loss as uncertainty still
persisted over how the world would emerge from the coronavirus.
U.S. stock indexes have stuck to a tight range after recovering
from multi-year lows hit in March.
At 6:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 360 points, or
1.53%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 42.25 points, or 1.48%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 108.5 points, or 1.19%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETFs <SPY.P> were up 1%.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> rose 0.5% as the iPhone maker said it would
reopen more than 25 of its branded stores in the United States
this week.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb
Chakrabarty)
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