NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were expected to push higher on Monday, boosted by news of alliances among corporate giants as well as broad speculation that OPEC oil ministers were near agreement on increasing oil supplies.
``There is virtually no negative news out there this morning,' said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. ``Unless there is a huge call for profit-taking on Monday, which generally doesn't come to fruition, I'd say we trade higher.'
Stock futures indices were off, but began to climb as Wall Street moved closer to the opening bell. The Standard & Poor's 500 futures index for June was down 3.70 points to 1,551.70 while the Nasdaq futures index fell 19 points to 4,785.00.
The market was waiting for word from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is expected to increase output in a move to dampen oil prices. OPEC was seeking to bridge a gap between cartel members on how far to open up the taps without sending prices crashing.
Ministers from Kuwait and Oman said early Monday that OPEC was near an agreement. Overnight, crude oil futures fell in Asia with U.S. light crude down 52 cents per barrel to $27.50.
That, coupled with news from top automotive and technology companies, was expected to buoy U.S. stocks on Monday, following a week of gains on Wall Street, analysts said.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) ended with a loss of 7.14 points, or 0.06 percent, at 11,112.72, capping four strong sessions that pushed the blue-chip gauge up 4.9 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index (^SPX - news) rose 0.11 points, or 0.01 percent to end at a record high of 1,527.46. The S&P, a benchmark widely used by professional money managers, finished at record levels each day from Tuesday to Friday.
The Nasdaq composite (^IXIC - news) rose 22.42 points, or 0.45 percent, to 4,963.03. For the week, the composite rose 165 points, or nearly 3.45 percent.
The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 1-10/32 Friday, pushing the yield to 6.0 percent.
In corporate news, the clock was ticking for Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) as the software giant tries to settle federal antitrust charges against it. The company made a new offer on Friday to settle the case after the judge warned he was ready to rule Tuesday.
Corporate alliances also commanded attention. IBM (NYSE:IBM - news), the world's largest computer maker, and telecommunications provider Qwest Communications International (NYSE:Q - news) entered a $5 billion alliance to build and run 28 Internet data centers to house online operations of U.S. businesses.
German-U.S. car maker DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX - news) agreed to buy a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp , becoming the world's third largest car maker and gaining a key foothold in Asia.
OpenTV Corp (NasdaqNM:OPTV - news) , a maker of software for digital interactive television, said Sunday it will buy Spyglass Inc (NasdaqNM:SPYG - news) in a $2.5 billion stock deal that will expand its access over the Internet and into wireless products.
On the economic docket, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is scheduled to testify at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on income taxes, social security and Medicare before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Data on existing home sales for February is due at 10 a.m EST (1500 GMT |
