* Oil's jump set to buoy energy shares
* Citi proposes exchange offer, reverse stock split
* FedEx drops on profit slide, gloomy outlook
* Futures up: S&P 500 6.90 pts; Dow 51 pts, Nasdaq 8.0
For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Recasts first paragraph, updates with GE Capital news)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
higher open on Thursday as resurgent oil prices lifted energy
shares and sentiment was underpinned by optimism about the
Federal Reserve's push to lower borrowing costs.
Shares of Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> climbed 1.2 percent to $70
before the bell as U.S. front-month crude <CLc1> jumped almost
6 percent to $50.92 a barrel. Shares of ConocoPhillips <COP.N>
jumped 2.3 percent to $39.20.
Bank shares also headed higher, with Bank of America
<BAC.N> up 6.4 percent to $8.16.
Citigroup said it was proposing an exchange offer of
preferred shares that could give the U.S. government a 36
percent stake in the bank. As part of the plan Citigroup would
conduct a reverse stock split, reducing its share count and
boosting its share price. For details, see []
Citi shares rose 6 percent at $3.26 in pre-market trade.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve surprised Wall Street by
announcing it would buy long-term Treasury bonds for the first
time in four decades in a bid to revive the recession-hit
economy. Optimism about the move, which fueled a recovery in
stocks on Wednesday, continued to bolster sentiment.
"The bears are likely to stay on the run," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "The fact
that the Fed made these firm commitments will help blossom some
of the seeds that are beginning to sprout toward a recovery."
S&P 500 futures <SPM9> were up 6.9 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 <DJM9> added 51
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDM9> futures gained 8.0 points.
An announcement by HSBC Holdings <HSBA.L> that Europe's
biggest bank performed strongly in January, ahead of its
expectations, also underpinned some of the optimism about
banks. For details, see []
General Electric <GE.N> is among stocks to watch. The
company said it expects its finance arm GE Capital to be
profitable in the first quarter and the rest of this year. The
parent company's shares rose by 6 percent to $11 in premarket
trade.
Top drags will include FedEX Corp <FDX.N> , down 5 percent
to $41 before the bell, after the package delivery company
posted a 75 percent slide in quarterly profit and gave gloomy
outlook. []
On the economic front, a March reading on factory activity
in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region is due at 10:00 a.m. (1400
GMT).
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
