* Bargain hunting set to prop market after sell-off
* RIM outlook weighs on techs;stock off before market open
* Dismay over U.S. financial rescue plan persists
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Recast first paragraph, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
bounce at the open on Wednesday, with investors set to scour
the market for beaten down shares after a sell-off the previous
day sparked by concerns about a plan to shore up the financial
system.
Before the bell, bank shares were among stocks mounting a
recovery, with Wells Fargo <WFC.N> rising 2 percent to $16.60
and Bank of America <BAC.N> up more than 4 percent to $5.80.
The Financial Select Sector SPRDR <XLF.P> , an
exchange-traded fund which tracks the performance of stocks in
the S&P 500 financials group, climbed 1.6 percent.
"There's maybe a bit of a rebound in anticipation of the
testimony from the banking executives down in Washington
today," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon
Partners in New York.
The chief executives of eight banks are due to testify
before the House of Representatives Financial Services
Committee starting at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT). Lawmakers are
expected to grill them on how the financial institutions spent
money given them under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP) and to vent rising public anger over the
economic crisis.
"The only thing that may pull us up is if the executives
hold their own and indicate that there's been lending and that
they are willing to make further concessions," Cardillo said.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 2.40 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 <DJc1> climbed
24 points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures slipped 1.50 points.
But the boost from a search for bargains looked set to be
offset by a drag from technology shares after Research In
Motion <RIM.TO><RIMM.O> offered disappointing profit outlook,
adding to concerns about the impact of the recession on
consumer and business spending.
Additionally, worries persisted about the failure of U.S.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday to instill
confidence about a reworked plan to shore up the beleaguered
financial sector.
Investors on Tuesday were dismayed by the lack of detail on
how the government will cleanse toxic assets burdening the
banking system, triggering a sharp Wall Street sell-off and a
nearly 14 percent slide in the KBW Bank Index <.BKX>.
Research In Motion said its fourth-quarter earnings and
gross margin would be at the low end of its previous forecast
range, even as subscriber additions topped expectations. For
details, see []
Shares of RIM, the BlackBerry devices maker, dropped 6
percent to $53.58 before the bell, a slide that also weighed on
other tech bellwethers, including Apple Inc <AAPL.O> , down 2
percent.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
