* China manufacturing lifts basic resources, energy
* GM files for bankruptcy protection
* Futures up: Dow 97 pts; S&P 500 14.2; Nasdaq 12.25
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Adds GM bankruptcy filing, updates prices)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
more than 1 percent on Monday as stronger Chinese economic data
lifted investor optimism that the worst of the global recession
was past.
Basic resources and energy stocks, seen by analysts as
among the beneficiaries of economic growth in China, rose in
premarket trade. Alcoa Inc <AA.N> gained 2.9 percent to $9.49,
while Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> added 1 percent to $70.05.
U.S. front month crude oil <CLc1> rose more than 2 percent
to a seven-month high, extending its largest monthly gain in a
decade on increased expectations for a global economic
recovery.
General Motors Corp <GM.N> filed for bankruptcy protection
on Monday, forcing the 100-year-old automaker into a new and
uncertain era of government ownership in a move some analysts
said will have a far-reaching impact on the global economy. For
details, double-click []
"With uncertainty about GM's future lifted and China
leading the way to an assumed global economic recovery,
investors are increasingly getting the warm and fuzzies towards
the equity markets," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton
Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey.
"Today it's the veil of uncertainty on GM being lifted and
three month in a row growth of manufacturing in China is
helping the process along."
China's manufacturing sector continued to expand moderately
in May as new export orders improved, two surveys showed,
adding to tentative signs that the world's third-largest
economy is stabilizing. []
Separately, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
reassured the Chinese government Monday its huge holdings of
dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong
U.S. currency.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 14.20 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 97
points, while Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures gained 12.25 points.
On the economic front, at 8:30 a.m [], the U.S.
Commerce Department will release April personal income and
consumption data. Economists in a Reuters survey expect April
income and spending to both fall 0.2 percent. In March, income
fell 0.3 percent and spending was down 0.2 percent.
The Commerce Department also will release April
construction spending at 10 a.m []. Economists surveyed
by Reuters forecast spending to fall 1.3 percent compared with
an 0.3 percent increase in March.
The Institute for Supply Management is to issue its May
manufacturing index, also at 10 a.m. []. Economists in
a Reuters survey expect a reading of 42.2 versus 40.1 in
April.
Prudential Financial Inc <PRU.N> shares shed 0.6 percent to
$39.69 in premarket trade after the No. 2 U.S. life insurer
said it would offer $1.25 billion of common stock after turning
down aid from the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program.
European shares rose broadly on the China data, and Asian
stocks rose to eight-month highs, adding to the positive
sentiment seen in Wall Street's higher close on Friday.
[]
U.S. stocks rose Friday to cap off their third straight
monthly advance, as rising commodity prices boosted shares of
natural resource companies, while a sliding dollar increased
the appeal of multinationals, including Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>.
Since hitting a 12-year low in early March, the Dow has
gained nearly 30 percent and the S&P 500 is up nearly 36
percent.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
