Stock Futures Rise as Retail Sales Jump
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting a higher Wall Street open on Monday following Softbank's announcement it reached a deal to buy Sprint (S) for $20.1 billion and after earnings from Citigroup (C) topped expectations.
U.S. retail sales for September also rose more than forecast.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 50 points to 13,295. Futures for the S&P 500 gained 7 points to 1,428.50. Futures for the Nasdaq were up 18 points to 2,728.
The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales for September rose 1.1%; economists were expecting an increase of 0.8%, compared with a 0.9% increase in August, according to Reuters.
The FTSE 100 in London was up 0.5% and the DAX in Germany gained 0.8%. Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.5% to close at 8,577.93, snapping a four-day losing streak. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose less than 0.1%. China released data showing consumer prices for September rose 1.9% from a year earlier. Gold for October delivery was down $12.20 to $1,745.80 an ounce.
November crude oil futures were down 1 cent to $91.85 a barrel.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury was trading at 1.68%. The dollar was down marginally, according to the dollar index.
In corporate news, Softbank reached a deal Monday to acquire a 70% stake in Sprint Nextel (S) for $20.1 billion.
The deal is expected to be completed by the middle of 2013.
Sprint is the No. 3 wireless provider, behind AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless. The deal will give Sprint more capital to use to compete against its much bigger rivals.
Sprint shares were trading at $5.90, up 3%, in premarket trading Monday
Citigroup (C), the third-largest U.S. bank, posted third-quarter profit of 15 cents a share. Excluding items, operating profit was $1.06 a share, beating the consensus estimate of 96 cents.
Net revenue came in at $19.4 billion, excluding CVA/DVA.
Citigroup was rising 2% to $35.52.
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