By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Ace to buy Chubb in $28 billion deal
U.S. stock futures jumped Wednesday, following a report that
Greece's prime minister is prepared to agree to most bailout terms
set by the debt-burdened country's creditors.
At the same time, Chubb Corp. rallied in premarket trade as the
property & casualty insurer agreed to be bought by Ace Ltd.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 144 points,
or 0.8%, to 17,667.00, and those for the S&P 500 rallied 14.60
points, or 0.7%, to 2,069.00. Nasdaq 100 futures picked up 34.50
points, or 0.8%, to 4,424.75.
Futures were propelled higher after the Financial Times reported
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is ready to accept nearly all
of the conditions
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-pm-tsipras-ready-to-accept-bailout-terms-ft-2015-07-01)
to a new bailout deal that its international lenders proposed over
the weekend. Tsipras due to address his nation later Wednesday.
Follow the latest news in the Greek debt crisis
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-debt-crisis-latest-news-on-wednesday-2015-07-01).
With that news, Wall Street will get trading in the second half
of 2015 underway after a losing quarter for the S&P 500 Index .
Data on tap Wednesday include a report on private-sector hiring,
which could give a clue to the closely watched U.S. jobs report on
Thursday.
Stocks globally had been hit this week as Greece and its
creditors failed to work out a deal allowing the country access to
new bailout funds. The S&P 500 has felt the weight of turmoil
in Greece; it finished the second quarter lower by 0.2%, snapping a
nine-quarter winning streak
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-eye-higher-open-after-greek-led-selloff-2015-06-30).
In Tuesday's trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq
Composite ended slightly higher.
"With all the Greek furor, it's hard to believe that a month has
passed and nonfarm payrolls will be released tomorrow," Brenda
Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group, wrote Wednesday.
Before the U.S. jobs reports is released Thursday -- a day
earlier than usual because of the Independence Day holiday -- data
on private-sector hiring in June will arrive from ADP at 8:15 a.m.
Eastern Time.
A reading of 218,000 jobs would be "marginally better" than
May's reading of 201,000, said Kelly. "Any better number here could
ramp up the monetary tightening speculation," she said.
At the half-year mark, the S&P is 0.2% higher, while the Dow
is 1.1% lower. The Nasdaq is up 5.3% so far this year. Read Need To
Know: Humdrum first half bodes well for the rest of the year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-humdrum-first-half-for-stocks-bodes-well-for-the-rest-of-the-year-2015-07-01).
Data: After the ADP report, investors will get Markit's reading
of June manufacturing activity at 9:45 a.m. Eastern. Data on
services activity for June will arrive from the Institute for
Supply Management and construction-spending figures for May are
both due at 10 a.m. Eastern. Figures on motor-vehicle sales for
June should arrive throughout the day.
Corporates: Chubb (CB) shot up 34% ahead of the open after Ace
(ACE) said it plans to buy the fellow insurer in cash and stock
deal valued at $28.3 billion
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ace-agrees-to-buy-rival-insurer-chubb-for-283-billion-2015-07-01-71034524).
Ace shares climbed 10% premarket. The deal is expected to
immediately boost Ace's per-share earnings and book value, and to
generate $650 million savings.
Food supplier General Mills Inc. (GIS) posted
weaker-than-expected revenue
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/general-millss-revenue-growth-lags-estimates-2015-07-01)
in the fiscal fourth quarter while earnings excluding one-time
items were above Wall Street expectations. Shares were up 0.5% in
thin premarket trade.
Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ) shares gained 1.7% after the
alcoholic-beverage maker said first-quarter sales rose 7% to $1.63
billion, above the FactSet estimate of $1.62 billion. The company
also said it will buy the Meiomi wine brand for about $315
million.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) and General Motors Co. (GM) will
likely to move following the release of monthly car-sales data.
Nike Inc. (NKE) could see active trade after its co-founder Phil
Knight created Swoosh LLC, a limited liability company, to hold his
128.5 million shares of Nike stock, equivalent to a 15% stake in
the sports apparel company.
Other markets: European stocks surged on Wednesday's
developments out of Greece. Asian markets overnight finished mixed.
Stocks in Shanghai sank 5.2%, but Japan's Nikkei picked up 0.5%.
Oil futures fell more than 1% while gold prices edged slightly
higher. The dollar was up against most of its rivals on the ICE
Dollar Index .
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