ND: U.S. Stock Futures Higher Following Last Week's Drubbing
By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures rose on Monday, rebounding after losses last week propelled the major indexes to their worst losses in months.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 50 points, or 0.3%, to 16464.
S&P 500 index futures added seven points, or 0.4%, to 1926 and Nasdaq-100 futures rose by 13 points, or 0.3%, to 3886. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.
The upbeat mood in pre-market trading came amid a rise in European shares. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.2% after Portugal's central bank said it would pump billions of euros into a troubled bank and break it up. In Asia, markets were mixed.
Stocks fell Friday, with the Dow shedding 0.4% to 16493.37. The index's weekly performance was the second worst of the year. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 1925.15 on Friday, for the worst weekly performance of the year.
A jolt of volatility hit the stock market last week, as ongoing concerns about Banco Espirito Santo and Argentina's debt default collided with escalating tensions in Gaza and along the Russia-Ukraine border. At the same time, stronger- than-expected second-quarter U.S. growth and data showing yet another month of strong labor-market growth in July worried some market participants that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates sooner than expected.
Many investors said they were looking for an excuse to sell stocks as major U.S. indexes hit record highs.
That volatility is likely to continue this week, said Dan McMahon, director of equity trading at Raymond James.
"Portugal's not out of the woods yet. How many other ones are out there? The fact that [Portugal is] coming up with an orderly resolution to bail out the bank is why futures are up this morning," he said.
Economic data in the week ahead include a slate of global purchasing managers indexes, including one from China later Monday U.S. time. In the U.S., investors will look to data on factory orders, the trade deficit and weekly jobless claims. Investors will also continue watching for corporate earnings results.
"We had a lot of markets that gave back a lot [last week]. People are looking to step back in and for relative bargains," said Mr. McMahon.
The yield on the 10-year note, which moves inversely with its price, was steady at 2.494%, according to FactSet.
The euro was little changed against the dollar, trading at $1.3418. A gauge of inflation in Europe rose for the first time this year in June, with producer prices rising 0.1% from May.
In corporate news, shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. rose 2.1% premarket after posting gains in second-quarter earnings and revenue. The retailer also boosted its full-year earnings expectations.
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. were up 1.4% premarket after Warren Buffett's company posted a record quarterly profit.
In commodity markets, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,291.60 an ounce and crude-oil futures fell 0.3% to $97.60 a barrel.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at Saumya.Vaishampayan@wsj.com
