Stocks head to higher open despite UBS
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street headed for a slightly higher open Monday despite further evidence that the subprime mortgage crisis continues to spread. Swiss bank UBS said it will write down some $10 billion of subprime mortgage holdings, and also announced plans for an $11.5 billion capital injection from the government of Singapore and an unidentified Middle Eastern investor. Shares of the bank rallied in Europe on relief this might be the worst of UBS' exposure, and that the bank was able to secure more capital. The announcement from UBS comes just before the top U.S. investment banks are slated to report earnings. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will report results on Wednesday, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns Cos. are scheduled for next week. Investors were also upbeat ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting on Tuesday. Policymakers are broadly tipped to lower rates, though economists are still split over whether there will be a quarter point cut or a half point cut. Wall Street will also be monitoring data released Monday on pending home sales in October. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 31, or 0.24 percent, to 13,681, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 3.20, or 0.21 percent, to 1,510.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures added 5.00, or 0.23 percent, to 2,137.00. Wall Street has posted robust gains recently as investors grew more confident in the Fed's openness to loosening its policy again. The Dow has risen more than 640 points over the last two weeks, a rally that has brought the blue-chip index to less than 4 percent below the record close it reached Oct. 9. Last week, the Dow ended 1.90 percent higher, the S&P 500 index finished 1.59 percent, and the Nasdaq ended up 1.70 percent. In corporate news, Blackstone Group Inc. might be planning a bid to acquire Rio Tinto Ltd., according to Britain's Daily Telegraph. Blackstone would lead a consortium that would include China's sovereign wealth fund, according to the report. Japanese drug maker Eisai Co. said Monday it will buy U.S. biopharmaceutical company MGI Pharma Inc. for $3.9 billion in a move aimed at boosting its cancer drug business and sustaining sales growth. Oil prices slipped Monday, extending a decline that began Friday after a November U.S. jobs report turned out to be less robust than expected. Light, sweet crude fell 16 cents to $88.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.20 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.18 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.07 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.29 percent, and France's CAC-40 increased 0.29 percent.
Monday, December 10, 2007
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