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* OPEC+ meeting set for around 1400 GMT
* Starbucks down 2.6% after forecasting profit drop
* Futures jump: Dow 1.53%, S&P 1.23%, Nasdaq 0.98%
(Adds details, comment; Updates prices)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to jump at the open
on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out a massive
$2.3 trillion program to bolster local governments and
businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
In its most groundbreaking step yet, the Fed said it would
work through banks to offer 4-year loans to companies of up to
10,000 employees and directly buy the bonds of states and more
populous counties and cities. "The Federal Reserve and the U.S. government are willing to
go to extreme lengths to support the economy and that has been
far beyond my expectations," said Dev Kantesaria, founder
portfolio manager of hedge fund Valley Forge Capital Management,
Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, data showed the number of Americans filing for
jobless claims fell slightly last week to 6.6 million from an
upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before. Still, new claims topping 6 million for the second straight
week showed the scale of the damage to the U.S. economy from the
health crisis.
Despite a 10.5% surge so far in the holiday-shortened week,
the S&P 500 is still down about 19% from its mid-February record
high and volatility is expected to remain high heading into the
first-quarter earnings season.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Chevron CVX.N , Marathon Oil MRO.N
and Apache Corp APA.N rose between 2% and 17% as oil prices
gained ahead of a meeting of the world's biggest oil producers
to discuss production cuts. O/R
However, the negotiations are complicated by internal
disagreements and the reluctance of the United States, the
world's biggest shale producer, to make cuts of its own.
Global sentiment has also been lifted this week by early
signals that social distancing measures were leading to a
slowdown in the coronavirus outbreak in U.S. hot spots.
MKTS/GLOB
While public health experts said the steps were vital to
controlling the contagion, the restrictions have strangled the
U.S. economy and sparked widespread production cuts, layoffs and
projections of a severe recession.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O fell more than 2.6% in premarket
trading as the coffee chain forecast a 47% drop in
second-quarter earnings due to a loss in sales.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N jumped 6.4%, leading gains among Dow
.DJI components, as the company said its Disney+ streaming
service had attracted more than 50 million paid users globally.
At 08:57 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 355 points,
or 1.53%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 33.75 points, or 1.23%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 80 points, or 0.98%.