AHN: Wall Street Set For A Higher Start With Temporary Boost From Citi's Bailout
Futures turn green as the Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) stepped up jointly to infuse $20 billion in Citigroup In (NYSE: C) and provide $306 billion guarantee on its risky loans and securities backed by commercial and residential mortgages.
The stocks on Wall Street are likely to rise on Monday due to positive sentiment in financial sector led by the shares of Citigroup that jumped by as much as $1.28 or 33.95 percent to $5.05 in pre-market trading.
At 7:17 a.m. EDT in New York, S&P futures were trading up by 24.10 points or 3.04 percent at 816.10 points, NASDAQ futures was moving down by 24.00 points or 2.20 percent at 1,115.00 points.
At the same time, the Dow was trading up at 160.00 points or 1.99 percent at 8,196.00 points.
Under the agreement, Citi said it will issue an incremental $7 billion in preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury and the FDIC as payment for a government guarantee. It will also issue warrants to the Treasury and the FDIC for approximately 254 million shares of the company's common stock at a strike price of $10.61.
"This weekend, the U.S. government and Citi worked together in an unprecedented way to address market confidence and the recent decline in Citi's stock price," Chief Executive Officer Vikram S. Pandit said in a statement on Monday. "We reached an agreement based on an innovative market solution to further strengthen our capital ratios, reduce risk, and increase liquidity."
Oil futures remained below $50-a-barrel mark on Monday as a light sweet crude barrel for January delivery was recently trading lower by 14 cents to $49.79 a barrel in electronic trading.
On Friday, the contract had advanced by 51 cents to $49.93 a barrel in overnight trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on overall mixed sentiment on oil demand.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. oil firm, declined by 1.4 percent, followed by Chevron Corp. dropping by 1 percent as crude oil moved below $50 a barrel.
A report on existing home sales is expected to be released for the month of October at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday.
In currency trading, the yen changed hands at 95.38 yen per U.S. dollar in Asia on Monday, after it closed at 94.94 yen late Friday in New York.