* Banks rise after stress tests results
* Non-Farm Payroll data on tap
* Toyota Motor forecasts loss
* Futures up: S&P 12.50 pts, Dow 106 pts, Nasdaq 11.25 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
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(Adds Ken Lewis comments)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures
pointed to a rise of more than 1 percent at the open on Friday
after the government's stress tests results for banks lifted
optimism on financial stocks ahead of April's non-farm payroll
data.
U.S. regulators told top banks after the close on Thursday
to raise $74.6 billion to build a capital cushion official hope
will restore faith in financial firms and set a course out of
the deepest recession in decades. For details, see
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Shares of several major banks rose, with Citigroup Inc
<C.N> and Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> up more than 10 percent
and 12 percent, respectively in premarket trading.
"The market is clearly pleased with the (stress test)
number, it's happy to have it out of the way." said Paul
Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial
Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
"Now the uncertainty, as far as the market is concerned, is
out of the way and now it can move on to the economy."
Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said in an
interview on CNBC that he anticipates about $10 billion in
asset sales and that he is "pretty confident" the bank will do
better than the stress test results indicate.
At 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), investors will focus on non-farm
payroll data from April. The government is expected to report
that the economy lost 590,000 jobs for the month according to a
Reuters poll, less than the 663,000 in March. However, the
number may still push the jobless rate to a 25-year high to 8.9
percent from 8.5 percent.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 12.50 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> added 106
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures gained 11.25 points.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, the world's biggest automaker,
forecast a much bigger-than-expected annual loss and said it
would sell about 1 million fewer vehicles this year, forcing it
to attempt to cut costs in a severe market downturn.
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Oil rose to $58 a barrel, its highest level in about 6
months, lifted by hopes of an economic recovery that could
boost world oil demand.
European shares climbed in early trade on Friday as
financial stocks advanced after the results of the stress
tests, while commodities tracked higher crude and metals
prices. []
A recent surge in Asian shares lost steam ahead of U.S.
monthly jobs data that may signal whether or not the global
economy has indeed hit bottom. []
Wall Street stocks slid on Thursday as investors took
profits from the technology sector's recent surge, while
analyst downgrades hurt telecoms and a tepid response to a
government bond auction raised fears about public finances.
Since hitting a 12-year closing low in March, the S&P has
surged 34 percent, driven by optimism about the financial
systems's condition and hopes the recession may be waning.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Theodore
d'Afflisio)
