MW: U.S. stocks poised to rebound, shake off oil drop
U.S. stocks looked set to rebound from a losing week on Monday, as investors shook off further weakness for oil prices and appeared ready to hunt bargains in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMH6, +0.75% surged 162 points, or 0.9%, to 17,178, while those for the S&P 500 index ESH6, +0.88% jumped 21.60 points, or 1%, to 2,013.50. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index NQH6, +0.87% added 49 points, or 1%, to 4,553.50.
Read: Year-end selling has made these stocks screaming bargains
Those gains come on the heels of a losing week for U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.78% dropping 0.4% for the week and the Dow industrials DJIA, -2.10% falling 0.8% as oil prices hit their lowest levels in nearly seven years.
So far on Monday, investors appeared willing to overlook more losses for oil prices as Brent oil LCOG6, -1.84% tapped levels not seen since 2004 and U.S. oil prices fell another 30 cents to $34.44 a barrel. A rise in the U.S. oil-rig count for the first time in five weeks on Friday will likely stay on investors’ minds.
And commodity prices will remain key for stock-market gains, said James Hughes, chief market analyst at GKFX, in a note.
“Volume will be light, so traders will have to keep an eye on oil as many start to take profits and come out of positions as we approach the end of the year,” said Hughes. And with the low volume will come a pickup in volatility, so “Santa maybe just around the corner, but don’t rule out the commodity rout stealing the limelight yet again.”
Read: Last-minute bargain-hunting may boost stocks in quiet holiday week
U.S. markets will close early on Christmas Eve and not reopen until Monday, in what will be a full day of trading. Check out the rest of the holiday schedule for markets.
The economic calendar for Monday is empty, but the rest of the week will be busy. Wednesday marks the busiest day for data releases, with durable goods orders, and consumer spending and sentiment all coming at once.
Stocks to watch: Shares of L.M. Ericsson Telefon AB ERICB, +5.59% ERIC, -0.33% surged in European trading on Monday after the Swedish maker of telecom equipment said it has settled litigation with Apple Inc. AAPL, -2.71% that will see the U.S. iPhone maker pay a patent royalty to use its mobile technology.
In an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook defended the company’s production locale of China and criticized U.S. corporate tax policy.
Opinion: Here’s the lowdown on why GoPro, Twitter and Yahoo are going down
Other markets: Markets in Europe SXXP, +0.35% traded higher with the exception of Spain, where the ruling Popular Party lost its parliamentary majority in a historic weekend election, putting an end to a two-party system in place for decades. The Spain IBEX IBEX, -2.44% which has been one of the worst performers in Europe, was recently down 1.8%.
The euro EURUSD, -0.0552% , meanwhile, was only marginally weaker against the dollar, while the yen USDJPY, +0.20% lost ground against the greenback. Asian stocks saw a mixed session, with the Nikkei 225 index NIK, -0.37% slipping 0.3%, but a 1.7% rally for the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +1.77% Gold prices GCG6, +0.43% edged higher.
