U.S. indexes set to open higher as crude rebounds

By Abhiram Nandakumar

REUTERS - Wall Street was set to open higher on Wednesday as crude oil prices continued to rebound and economic data showed consumer spending and personal incomes rose in November.

Oil prices were up after an unexpected fall in U.S. inventories, but still hovered near multi-year lows due to a persistent supply glut and demand was set to remain muted.

Exxon shares were up 1.4 percent at $78.70, while Chevron rose 1.7 percent at $91.80 in premarket trading.

"This is almost always a very good week for the market. The market rallies into Christmas," said Jeff Clark, trading analyst at Stansberry Research.

U.S. stock markets will have a shortened session on Thursday and stay closed on Friday for Christmas. Trading volumes are expected to remain relatively light through the holiday period.

"There's a pretty strong bounce in the price of oil and, as we've seen in the past several days, the market seems to be following that pretty closely," Clark said.

U.S. consumer spending rose by 0.3 percent last month, according to data that was inadvertently released 12 hours ahead of schedule on Tuesday, while personal income rose for the eighth straight month on solid wage gains.

However, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.4 percent last month, according to data released on Wednesday.

At 8:36 a.m. ET (1336 GMT), Dow e-minis were up 84 points, or 0.48 percent, with 18,053 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were up 6 points, or 0.29 percent, with 103,192 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 15 points, or 0.33 percent, on volume of 16,583 contracts.

Other data scheduled for Wednesday includes the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index, which is expected to rise to 92 in December from the preliminary 91.8 reported previously. The report is due at 10:00 a.m.

Investors will assess the economic data to get a bearing on the Federal Reserve's next move.

The central bank raised interest rates last week and said further hikes would be gradual.

Micron shares were down 7.4 percent at $13.53 in premarket trading after the memory chip maker forecast a surprise loss for the second quarter.

Celgene was up 7.4 percent at $119.20 after the drugmaker said it settled a patent litigation over its top-selling cancer drug, Revlimid.

Dow component Nike was up 2.6 percent at $135.31 after the world's largest sportswear maker reported futures orders that beat expectations.

Bed Bath & Beyond was down 6 percent at $48.26 after the home furnishings retailer cut its third-quarter profit forecast.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)