* Bargain hunters on the prowl after Tuesday's sell-off
* Obama to announce plan to stem foreclosures
* GM and Chrysler seek more government aid.
* S&P 500 futures up 7.30 pts; Nasdaq futures up 12.50 pts,
Dow futures up 56 points.
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Recasts first paragraph, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
bounce at the open on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up
beaten-down shares after Tuesday's slide to three-month lows.
A speech later in the day by U.S. President Barack Obama to
announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer
investors more direction after government data showed U.S.
housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January.
For more see [].
Advancers before the bell included financial shares, with
Citigroup Inc <C.N> up 3.6 percent to $3.17 and Bank of America
<BAC.N> up 4.3 percent at $5.11. Energy shares, among Tuesday's
worst laggards, also headed higher as oil prices rebounded.
General Motors <GM.N> is also among stocks to watch after
the beleaguered automaker and rival Chrysler LLC sought nearly
$22 billion more in U.S. government loans on Tuesday. GM shares
gained 3.2 percent to $2.25 before the bell. []
"We are going to bounce this morning," said Arthur Hogan,
chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in Boston. "Today is
another day where you come and look at spots where you're
oversold. It will be a reflex rally after a short-term oversold
market."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 7.30 points, and were above
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> climbed
56 points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures gained 12.50 points.
A lot is riding on what Obama says about how his
administration plans to stabilize housing, whose downturn has
slammed household wealth and forced banks to take big
write-downs due to soured mortgages and other securities.
The Obama administration has closely guarded details of the
roughly $50 billion plan but sources familiar with it have said
it would be bolder than prior efforts to stem foreclosures.
Obama will outline the plan in a speech in Mesa, Arizona at
12:15 p.m. (1715 GMT). [].
In earnings news, Deere & Co <DE.N>, the world's largest
maker of farm equipment, reported an unexpectedly sharp drop in
quarterly profit before the bell and slashed its forecast for
full-year earnings, blaming a deepening recession and volatile
exchange rates. The stock fell 4.3 percent to $32.05.
Tuesday's slide extended the benchmark S&P 500's <.SPX>
drop since the start of 2009 to 12.6 percent. The index began
the year up more than 20 percent from its November bear market
low but, through Tuesday's close, has more than halved that
advance.
(Editing by James Dalgleish)
