Stock futures rebound as stimulus hopes calm recession worries

By Sanjana Shivdas

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose more than 4% on Tuesday, rebounding from a 7% slump a day earlier, as hopes of coordinated policy action soothed investor nerves over a global recession fueled by the coronavirus epidemic.

Wall Street logged its biggest one-day percentage fall on Monday and the Dow Jones <.DJI> tumbled as much as 2,000 points, also weighed down by a crash in oil prices following a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Sentiment was bolstered overnight after President Donald Trump promised “major” steps to combat the virus outbreak and said he would discuss a payroll tax cut with congressional Republicans.

Oil also recouped some losses from its biggest one-day decline since the Gulf War in 1991, supported by expectations for a settlement to the price war and potential U.S. output cuts. [O/R]

Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp climbed more than 7% in premarket trading, while Occidental Petroleum Corp , Apache Corp and Marathon Oil Corp jumped between 20% and 29%. At 6:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 1,038 points, or 4.35%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 123.25 points, or 4.49% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 366.25 points, or 4.61%.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)