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Empresas y finanzas

Stock index futures signal higher opening


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher opening on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.28 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.19 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.1 percent at 4:47 a.m. ET, helped by mounting expectations of further action from the Federal Reserve to support the economy.

    * But there were worries of a monetary tightening in China. The country has raised reserve requirements for six large commercial banks on a temporary basis, a move to drain cash from the economy but avoid over-tightening, four sources told Reuters on Monday.

    * China's top offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd <0883.HK> has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for a stake in a U.S. shale oil and gas field, testing the market for the first time since its 2005 failed bid for Unocal.

    * Rival bidders may be looking to derail BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp , with China's Sinochem and a Canadian pension fund among those working on plans, according to newspaper reports.

    * Microsoft Corp is set to unveil a new line of phones running its Windows software on Monday, as it attempts to pull back market share from Apple Inc's iPhone and Google Inc's Android system in the fast-growing market for multi-featured 'smartphones'.

    * The dollar fell to a 15-year low of 81.40 yen on Monday but later clawed higher and stabilized, with the chances of a short-term bounce growing, despite expectations the Federal Reserve will have to print money to support the economy.

    * The dollar was affected by discord in international currency policies after the IMF's member countries failed to agree on a concrete plan to tackle global imbalances at multilateral meetings over the weekend.

    * Oil rose for a second straight session on Monday to top $83, lifted by the dollar's slide that bolstered the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.

    * European stocks inched higher, led by tech shares such as Nokia , helped by a share price target upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.

    * U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, with the Dow closing above the 11,000 mark for the first time in five months as a surprisingly weak jobs report strengthened the case for a further monetary injection by the Federal Reserve.

    * The Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.90 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 11,006.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 7.09 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,165.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 18.24 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,401.91.

    (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)