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Empresas y finanzas

Stock futures gain as investors eye Fed meeting


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Monday, looking to extend Wall Street's three-week gain as investors await the Federal Reserve's monetary meeting later in the week.

    Futures were supported by gains in BP Plc after the British oil major said it permanently sealed the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that had caused a major oil spill. U.S.-listed shares of BP rose 1 percent to $38.40.

    The market is waiting to see if the central bank will add more stimulus to fuel the economic recovery. The Fed is to meet on Tuesday.

    On the M&A front, France's Safran SA unveiled a $1.1 billion deal to buy L-1 Identity Solutions Inc and its core biometric identity business. Separately, L-1 will sell its government consulting unit to BAE Systems Plc for nearly $300 million. L-1 Identity was up 20 percent at $11.63 in premarket trade.

    Media and entertainment stocks will be eyed after sources told Reuters Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar was in talks to buy the debt of struggling film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc for $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

    S&P 500 futures rose 5.6 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 added 41 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9.5 points.

    Wall Street ended Friday rising for the third straight week.

    Bank of America Corp plans to test different pricing packages in a bid to recover some of the $4.3 billion in revenue it expects to lose from new restrictions on bank and credit card fees, the Financial Times reported.

    China Unicom Ltd <0762.HK> will launch Apple Inc's latest iPhone in China next Saturday, in a bid to claw back market share with the popular smartphones.

    European stocks climbed 0.6 percent in early trade, rising for the first time in five sessions, led by energy and mining shares such as BP, Total SA and Rio Tinto Ltd.

    On the earnings front, investors awaited results from Discover Financial Services , while on the macroeconomic front, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo monthly housing market index will be released at 10 a.m. EDT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 14 for September versus 13 in August.

    (Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)