By Daniela Silberstein
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend its biggest monthly gain since 2003, as financial shares and commodity producers advanced.
Citigroup Inc. and American International Group Inc. climbed at least 3.5 percent in Germany. Alcoa Inc. increased after Southern Cross Equities Ltd. said BHP Billiton Ltd. could make a takeover bid for the largest U.S. aluminum producer and as metal prices rallied. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. climbed before a report that may show consumer confidence improved this month.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in June added 0.9 percent to 791.4 as of 9:52 a.m. in London, suggesting the gauge will rebound from the biggest drop in three weeks. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 0.9 percent to 7,549, and Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 1.2 percent to 1,237.75. European stocks also advanced, while Asian shares fell.
“We’ve had one of the best performances in decades this month but yesterday we saw that trust hasn’t fully returned to the market yet,” said Gerold Kuehne, who manages a $127 million U.S. equity fund at LLB Asset Management AG in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. “ If consumer confidence and purchasing manager data is better than expected that will help the market.”
U.S. stocks yesterday slumped as the Obama administration warned that some banks will need more government aid and that General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have one last chance to restructure.
Toxic Assets
The S&P 500 is still up 7.1 percent in March, trimming its quarterly decline to 13 percent, as banks from Citigroup to JPMorgan Chase & Co. said they made money in the first two months of 2009 and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled plans to rid financial firms of toxic assets.
The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or guaranteed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s.
Citigroup, which has received about $45 billion in government rescue funds, gained 3.5 percent to $2.39. Bank of America Corp. advanced 5.5 percent to $6.36.
AIG rose 5.3 percent to $1. The insurer rescued four times by the U.S. government received an $800 million loan from its consumer lending unit. The loan was dated March 24, the American General Finance Corp. unit said in a regulatory filing.
‘Grossly Cheap’
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, climbed 3 percent to $6.89. “Alcoa fits in all the BHP boxes in my view,” Charlie Aitken, executive director at Southern Cross, wrote in a report today. Alcoa’s assets “appear grossly cheap versus any replacement value or mid cycle earnings valuations,” he added.
ConocoPhillips, the second-biggest U.S. oil refiner, increased 0.9 percent to $39.38.
Copper rose on the London Metal Exchange, leading industrial metals higher. Oil advanced, set for the biggest monthly gain since June, amid speculation widening government stimulus plans will fuel demand.
Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest retailer, added 0.5 percent to $52.05. A Conference Board report scheduled for 10 a.m. Washington time may show consumer confidence increased this month to 28 from February’s record low as stock prices rebounded, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago may say its business index rose to 34.3 this month from 34.2 in February. Fifty is the dividing line between growth and contraction.
A report from S&P/Case-Shiller at 10 a.m. will probably show home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell at the fastest year-on- year pace on record in January as demand plummeted and foreclosures rose, economists said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net.
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