S&P 500 cuts losses as Nvidia climbs ahead of results
* Apple targets electric car production by 2024
* Peloton jumps on $420 mln deal to buy peer Precor
* Futures: Dow flat, S&P up 0.21%, Nasdaq up 0.50%
(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Ambar Warrick
Dec 22 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 index was set to open higher
on Tuesday, propped up by Apple on an exclusive report that it
was planning car and battery production, as well as Washington's
approval of a stimulus package to revive the pandemic-battered
economy.
Shares of the iPhone maker AAPL.O were up 3.1% in
pre-market trading after Reuters reported that the company was
moving forward with self-driving car technology and was
targeting 2024 to produce a passenger vehicle that could include
its own breakthrough battery technology.
Wall Street indexes ended well above intraday lows on Monday
after the U.S. Congress approved a much-awaited $892 billion
stimulus package, allaying fears of a further hit to the economy
from a new coronavirus strain discovered in Britain.
"While the virus news continues to overshadow from time to
time, the market is probably going to resume its upward trend,
and that's probably because relief is coming for the economy,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
"With two and a half trading days before Christmas holidays,
I think stocks will probably creep their way higher."
Trading activity is expected to be subdued in the last two
weeks of the year.
At 8:37 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 8 points, or
0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 7.75 points, or 0.21%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 63.75 points, or 0.5%.
Sentiment was also aided by the final reading for
third-quarter economic growth coming in slightly above
preliminary data. The U.S. economy expanded at a record pace in
the quarter as it rebounded from a pandemic-induced slump.
Increased liquidity measures, a favorable election outcome
and easy monetary policy have set Wall Street indexes for strong
annual gains, despite a rocky start to the year.
Technology stocks have outperformed their peers by a big
margin, thanks to their perceived resilience to virus-related
disruptions.
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose 0.5% after
slumping more than 6% in its first day of trading as part of the
S&P 500 .SPX on Monday. Fitbit Inc FIT.N slipped 6.4% after Australia's antitrust
regulator rejected Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O -owned Google's
undertaking that sought to address competition concerns over its
planned $2.1 billion acquisition of fitness tracker maker.
Peloton Interactive Inc PTON.O jumped 11.4% as brokerages
raised their price targets on the stock, a day after the
exercise bike maker said it would buy peer Precor in a $420
million deal to boost its U.S. manufacturing capacity and market
share for fitness products. A consumer confidence report for December, due at 10 am ET,
is expected to show an increase from the preceding month on
positive developments related to coronavirus vaccines and
stimulus measures.