Stocks could get CIT lift
Investors set to react to possible deal to aid ailing lending company.
Why Louisville, CO is No. 1NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were poised for a higher open Monday as investors awaited an expected announcement that CIT has obtained emergency financing and cheered what's perceived as a decent corporate reporting period.
At 6:59 a.m. ET, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500, and Nasdaq-100 futures were higher.
Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. said the markets were being helped, in party, by reports of a financing deal for small business lender CIT.
But the prime driver for the markets, he said, was "optimism of a return to global growth" fueled by rising commodity prices and the relatively positive performance from the first wave of second-quarter corporate results.
"We worked our way through the first week of earnings season with more good news than bad," said Hogan, noting that the current week with also be thick with company reports.
The major indexes are coming off a positive week. Last week was the Dow and S&P 500's first up week -- and the Nasdaq's second -- in the past five.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average managed to tack on another 32 points, but the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite were little changed. Investors digested results from IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500).
CIT: The board of CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) has approved a deal for a $3 billion loan from bondholders in order to stave off a bankruptcy filing, according to published reports. The deal is expected to be announced later Monday.
The lender to small and midsize businesses has been scrambling to raise money after the government declined to provide additional assistance. CIT received $2.3 billion in aid from the government late last year.
On tap: The index of leading economic indicators (LEI) is expected to have risen 0.5% in June, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Briefing.com economists. LEI rose 1.2% in the previous month. The Conference Board report is due out at 10 a.m. ET.
Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500) reports results after the close. The chipmaker is expected to have earned 18 cents per share versus 44 cents a year ago, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Global markets: Asian stocks rallied on the reports about the CIT loan, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index up 3.6%. Tokyo was closed for a holiday. European markets rose in midday trading.
Oil and money: The price of oil gained $1.28 to $64.84 a barrel. The dollar fell against the euro and pound, and gained versus the yen.
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