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* JPM rises after Q1 profit beat
* Anadarko jumps on Chevron's$33 bln deal
* Futures up: 0.87%, S&P 0.60%, Nasdaq 0.48% (Adds comment, details, updates prices)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar
April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open higher onFriday, boosted by better-than-expected results from JPMorgan,a $33 billion energy deal and signs of stability in Chineseeconomy.
The S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were up 17.25 points, or 0.6% by8:42 a.m. ET. If the gains hold at the open, the benchmark wouldtop 2,900 points for the first time since Oct. 5.
JPMorgan Chase & CoJPM.N rose 2.8% after the largest U.S.bank by assets beat quarterly profit estimates, easing fearsthat slowing economic growth could weigh on its results.
Shares of Well Fargo & Co WFC.N climbed 0.5% afterreporting a 16.4 percent increase in quarterly profit.
"The market has been stagnated for a while and when you geta good report like JPM then that's going to help sentiment andwill probably be the main focus for the next three weeks," saidRobert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and senior portfoliomanager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
Another big gainer premarket was Walt Disney CoDIS.N ,whose shares rose 6.3% after the company priced it highlyanticipated streaming service in a bid to challenge the digitaldominance of Netflix IncNFLX.O . Netflix shares were down1.5%.
S&P 500 companies are expected to post their first profitcontraction since 2016 in the first quarter, with analystsprojecting a 2.5 percent drop in earnings.
Bank earnings are also expected to see a steep drop. S&P 500banks are expected to post earnings growth of 1.8%, down from an8.2% rise estimated six months ago, according to Refinitiv data.
The S&P banks index .SPXBK has risen 12.8% this year,compared with a 15.2% gain for the S&P 500.
Data from China showed exports rebounded in March butimports shrank for a fourth straight month and at a sharperpace. The data, which eased concerns about a slowdown in world'ssecond largest economy, as well as a jump in oil prices offeredsupport to global equities. MKTS/GLOBO/R
Grabbing the spotlight in the energy sector was ChevronCorp's CVX.N$33 billion offer to buy smaller rival AnadarkoPetroleum CorpAPC.N . Shares of Anadarko jumped 31.6%, whileChevron fell 4.6%.
Shares of Anadarko's peers were also up on the news. DevonEnergy CorpDVN.N and EOG Resources IncEOG.N gained 4.4%each, while Marathon Oil CorpMRO.N was up 3.1%.
Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 227 points, or 0.87% and Nasdaq100 e-minis NQc1 were up 36.5 points, or 0.48%.
The S&P 500 index .SPX is now less than 2% away from itsall-time high hit in September and investors are hoping that atrade deal with China and a better-than-feared quarterlyearnings season will help push Wall Street above record. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru;Editing by Anil D'Silva) ((Shreyashi.Sanyal@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780 ;Reuters Messaging:Shreyashi.Sanyal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
