(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
*
Peabody Energy ( BTU ) falls; to buy Anglo American's coal mines
*
Robinhood gains after brokerage upgrade
*
Macy's slides after delaying Q3 report on accounting issue
*
Futures up: Dow 0.78%, S&P 500 0.58%, Nasdaq 0.58%
(Updates before market open)
By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
Nov 25 (Reuters) -
Wall Street's main indexes were poised to open higher on
Monday, driven by investor optimism following Scott Bessent's
nomination as Treasury Secretary in the incoming Trump
administration.
President-elect Donald Trump ended weeks of speculation when
he named his choice late on Friday, with some investment
strategists saying Bessent could take measures to restrain
further government borrowing, even as he follows through on
fiscal and trade campaign pledges.
At 08:42 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 348 points,
or 0.78%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 34.75 points, or
0.58%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 121.25 points, or
0.58%.
Futures tracking the domestically focused small-caps index
rose 1.2% as the yield on 30-year Treasury bonds
led declines across the curve.
"He (Bessent) might have a moderate approach to tariffs
and that's good news, because one of the fears is that if Trump
does impose strong tariffs, that could be inflationary and would
mean the Fed would have to perhaps reverse the present monetary
policy," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan
Capital Securities, New York.
Yields on Treasury bonds had surged after Trump's
victory on expectations that his policies, considered broadly
positive for the economy and big corporates, could stoke
inflationary pressures and slow down the pace of the Federal
Reserve's monetary policy easing.
Big banks gained, with Goldman Sachs ( GS ) rising 1.4%,
JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ) up 1% and Morgan Stanley ( MS )
adding 1% in premarket trading, while popular 'Trump trade'
Tesla advanced 2.3%.
Among megacaps, Alphabet and Amazon.com ( AMZN )
rose 0.8% and 1%, respectively.
The benchmark S&P 500 crossed 6,000 points for the
first time days after the election verdict and has jumped more
than 4% since Nov. 4. The Russell 2000 index has surged
more than 8% during the same period and both indexes are near
their respective record highs.
Brokerage Barclays raised its full-year 2025 forecast for
the S&P 500 to 6,600 points from 6,500.
Expectations for what the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy move
is likely to be in December have recently swayed between a pause
and a cut. The CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows a nearly 55.7%
probability the central bank will lower borrowing costs by 25
basis points.
The Personal Consumption Expenditure report, the central
bank's preferred inflation gauge, will be on investors' radar
this Thanksgiving week, along with the latest estimate on gross
domestic product and minutes from the Fed's policy meeting
earlier this month.
Macy's recouped early losses and was last down 0.4%
after the department store operator delayed the publication of
its third-quarter results due to an accounting issue.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) advanced 4.1%,
MARA Holdings ( MARA ) rose 5.2% and Coinbase added
2.6%, with bitcoin prices just shy of the $100,000 mark.
Bath & Body Works ( BBWI ) raised
its forecast for full-year
adjusted profit, sending the retailer's shares up 19.1%.
Peabody Energy ( BTU ) dropped 1.8% after Anglo American
decided to sell its remaining Australian steelmaking
coal mines to the company for up to $3.78 billion in cash.
Retail trading platform Robinhood Markets advanced
7% after Morgan Stanley ( MS ) raised its rating on the stock.