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US STOCKS-Index futures snap back for second day

Published 03/18/2011, 07:37 AM
Updated 03/18/2011, 07:40 AM
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* Futures snap back for second day

* Banks to get results on second stress tests - WSJ

* Japan may face last resort action in nuclear crisis

* Futures up: Dow 52 pts, S&P 7.8 pts, Nasdaq 14 pts

By Edward Krudy

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Futures bounced back for a second day on Friday but Japan's crisis and rising oil prices on a possible military action against Libya could keep Wall Street on track for its worst week in seven months.

* Financial stocks will be in focus after the Wall Street Journal reported the largest U.S. banks will be notified Friday whether they passed a second round of stress tests, allowing them to raise their dividends.

* In a move to calm financial markets grappling with continued anxiety over the nuclear crisis in quake-ravaged Japan, the Bank of Japan bought billions of dollars and were backed up by action by European central banks./

* S&P 500 futures rose 10.6 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 86 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures put on 16.25 points.

* "The downward moves this week were really driven by fear of nuclear apocalypse," said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "I don't know that things have gotten much better, but things haven't gotten worse."

* Japanese engineers conceded that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and concrete -- the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl in 1986 -- may be a last resort to prevent a catastrophic radiation release.

* Brent crude oil rose more than 1.1 percent to near $116 a barrel after the United Nations approved military action to contain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, heightening tensions in the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa.

* Global equities continued to snap back after heavy losses. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2.7 percent.

* U.S. food company General Mills Inc will pay 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) for a 50 percent stake in Yoplait, a yogurt brand whose U.S. distribution rights it has long held.

* Korean Air Lines Co Ltd revised a purchase agreement with Boeing Co to take delivery of 10 787 Dreamliner aircraft starting in 2016, five years later than previously scheduled.

* Nasdaq OMX Group Inc's plans for a rival bid for NYSE Euronext faces hurdles as differences with potential partner Intercontinental Exchange Inc persist, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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