* Bargain-hunting set to lift market after slide
* Auto industry executive to make fresh push for aid
* GE reaffirms dividend payout, helping sentiment
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Recasts first paragraph, adds GE, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
rebound at Tuesday's opening as investors went in search for
beaten-down shares after Monday's losses, while renewed hopes
for the auto industry tempered worry about the recession.
A day after Wall Street suffered its worst slide since
early October, shares of General Motors <GM.N> rose 10.2
percent to $5.06 before the bell, while Ford <F.N> climbed
nearly 8 percent to $2.75.
General Electric <GE.N> also helped underpin sentiment by
reiterating its plan to maintain a dividend payout in 2009 even
as it works to restructure its embattled finance arm, GE
Capital. For details, see []
Shares rebounding before the opening bell also included
Citigroup <C.N> , up 6.2 percent, and Bank of America <BAC.N> ,
up 4 percent. Both were among Monday's top casualties.
"What you are likely to see is a snap-back rally after
yesterday's big sell-off," said Andre Bakhos, president of
Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey.
"There's a little hope about the automakers and that's
helping the situation this morning. The $25 billion will be a
small price to pay to stave off a potentially gloomier
outcome."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> were 16.80 points higher 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 134 points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures gained 18.25
points.
But even with a bounce, investors were likely to tread
cautiously due to signs of the deepening global downturn.
The United States formally entered a recession in December
2007, an expert panel which designates U.S. business cycles
declared on Monday.
Executives of the big-three U.S. automakers, including
Chrysler, are due to maker another plea for a $25 billion
bailout before Congress on Tuesday as fears about possible
bankruptcy persist.
A report of a wider-than-expected quarterly loss from
retailer Sears Holdings Corp <SHLD.O> offered yet more evidence
of fallout from the recession. Sears also said it would close
additional stores. []
GE also forecast fourth-quarter earnings, before charges,
to trend toward the low end of its previously estimated range.
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The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs <GS.N>,
which recently won a nod to become a bank holding company, was
likely to post a quarterly net loss of as much as $2 billion.
Goldman's stock fell 1.7 percent to $64.66 before the bell.
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The lobbying for the auto sector bailout will coincide with
the release of November U.S. auto sales reports, which will
likely be bleak.
Monday's slide broke the S&P 500's 5-day streak of gains
and put the market just a whisker away from retesting 11-year
lows. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S
economy remained under considerable strain, but the central
bank could buy government and agency bonds to inject more money
into the financial system. For details, see []
[].
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
