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Bank regulators to testify before Congress
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Alibaba surges on break-up plans
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Walgreens up as profit beats estimates
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Futures down: Dow 0.14%, S&P 0.21%, Nasdaq 0.20%
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar
March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set for a
slightly lower open on Tuesday after a three-day rally in the
S&P 500 and the Dow that was fueled by support measures for the
banking sector and a deal for Silicon Valley Bank assets.
Bank shares rebounded sharply on Monday after First Citizens
BancShares Inc said it would acquire the deposits and
loans of Silicon Valley Bank, whose collapse earlier this month
sparked a selloff in the sector.
Shares of First Citizens BancShares Inc slipped
0.6% in premarket trading after surging more than 50% on Monday.
Big U.S. banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co , Bank
of America and Citigroup were up marginally.
Regional banks also rose, led by First Republic Bank's 1.2% gain, after a 12% rise on Monday.
"The fact that we've got answers on Silicon Valley Bank,
Signature Bank and Credit Suisse means that we have more answers
than questions," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B
Riley Wealth in Boston.
"But there are still enough unknowns that the market hasn't really declared an all-clear signal yet." Lawmakers are expected to put top U.S. bank regulators on the defensive over the unexpected failures of regional lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank when they testify before Congress later on Tuesday. Top regulatory officials for the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Treasury Department will testify before congressional committees.
Money market bets are now split between the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points and a pause in its policy meeting in May, after being largely tilted towards a no-hike scenario at the end of last week, according to CME's Fedwatch tool. Investors expect a sharp easing in rates thereafter. The Conference Board will release consumer confidence data later in the day, which is expected to show business conditions deteriorated marginally last month, making a case for a softer Fed policy stance. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Monday after the SVB deal was announced, while the Nasdaq Composite closed lower, led by a decline in technology-related stocks. At 8:42 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 45 points, or 0.14%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 8.5 points, or 0.21%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 25.25 points, or 0.2%. Alibaba Group Holding climbed 9.6% after the firm said it plans to split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud.
Shares of Lyft Inc were up 5.0% after the ride-hailing firm hired former Amazon.com executive David Risher as its new chief. Virgin Orbit Holdings tumbled 19.4% after the cash-strapped company said it would extend an unpaid furlough for most of its employees as talks seeking new funding continue.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc added 1.2% after the U.S. pharmacy's quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations. (Reporting by Shubham Batra, Amruta Khandekar, Sruthi Shankar and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Vinay Dwivedi)
