* Dollar rises against yen, euro
* S&P 500 futures down 2.40 points
* U.S. Treasury debt futures slip
* Spot gold prices slip
By Kristina Cooke
NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar rose against
the yen and the euro, and US Treasury bond futures slipped on
Sunday evening as U.S. lawmakers geared up for a Monday vote on
creating a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt.
U.S. stock futures edged higher, but momentum was held in
check as another big U.S. bank appeared in the throes of an
emergency takeover and two struggling European banks looked set
for nationalization.
And while Washington's bailout package is seen as crucial
in tackling the worst global financial crisis since the Great
Depression, doubts remain as to whether it could immediately
thaw the money and credit markets.
"What you hope for is a positive reaction in Asia and
Europe overnight and stability in the U.S. financial markets,
most particularly the credit markets this week," said Jim Awad,
Chairman at W.P. Stewart & Co. Ltd in New York.
"I would view any (stock market) rallies as being
transitory because now the real work begins," he added.
Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis <FOR.AS><FOR.BR> faced
nationalisation on Sunday after European Central Bank President
Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with Belgian and Dutch
ministers on rescuing one of Europe's 20 banks.
Britain's government, meanwhile, will nationalize troubled
mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley <BB.L> and were discussing a
sale of its savings book and branches, people familiar with the
matter said.
In Germany, Hypo Real Estate <HRXG.DE> was in urgent talks
with German banking regulator Bafin and the finance ministry
about solving a refinancing squeeze at the bank, sources with
knowledge of the matter said.
The New York Times reported that Citigroup <C.N> and Wells
Fargo <WFC.N> were locked in a bidding war over a possible
emergency takeover of Wachovia Corp <WB.N>.The U.S. government,
led by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, are
also involved in the Wachovia talks, the paper said.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 2.4 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> rose 10
points and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> climbed 3.25 points.
New Zealand's stock market <> rose 1.1 percent in
early trade.
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening, the 10-year
Treasury note future <TYZ8> opened down about 3/32 in price at
114 and 13/32, as the safe haven bid for government debt faded
slightly.
The euro slipped 0.6 percent to $1.4530 <EUR=>. Against the
yen, the dollar was last up 0.3 percent at 106.26 yen <JPY=>.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> fell 0.6 percent to $878 an ounce.
Wall Street equities had scratched out a gain Friday as
financial stocks rallied late in the session on hope the U.S.
Congress could reach agreement on the rescue plan. Still,
Friday also featured much the same move to safe-haven assets
that have dominated global markets for the past two weeks.
Gold jumped 4.0 percent at one point on Friday and the yen
climbed broadly as investors piled into safer assets after news
the bailout talks had stalled, while the failure of Washington
Mutual, the biggest bank closure in U.S. history on Thursday,
eroded confidence.
Oil prices slipped on Sunday night, pressured by concerns
the financial market crisis would slow demand. Further pressure
came as investors, who flocked into oil and other commodities
earlier this year as a hedge against inflation and a weak
dollar, shift into safer havens. U.S. crude <CLc1> settled at
$106.89 a barrel on Friday, down $1.13.
Asian stocks ended last week lower. Japan's Nikkei share
average <> shed 0.2 percent for the week, and the MSCI
index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell
1.5 percent.
MSCI's main world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 2.8
percent last week week. Central banks injected fresh liquidity
into the global banking system, helping lower soaring
inter-bank borrowing rates, but money markets remained mostly
paralyzed.
(Reporting by Kristina Cooke, Chris Sanders, Dan Burns,
John Parry and Vivianne Rodrigues)
