Wall Street set to open higher, boosted by oil prices

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - Wall Street looked set to open higher on Monday, with the three major indexes hovering near record levels, supported by higher oil prices and the lingering effects of the post-election rally.

Oil prices rose about 2.8 percent to a near three-week high of $47.87 per barrel amid hopes of the OPEC reaching an agreement to cut output. The dollar index's first drop in 11 days also helped.

Energy companies dominated the gainers among S&P 500 companies in premarket trading, led by Chesapeake's 4.2 percent increase.

The three major U.S. indexes are near record highs, rallying since the U.S. election as investors bet President-elect Donald Trump's policies would be market friendly.

Some investors have cashed in their gains, while others await clarity on the next government's policies.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer on Monday was the latest to offer his thoughts on what policies must be pursued.

"Certain fiscal policies, particularly those that increase productivity, can increase the potential of the economy and help confront some of our longer-term economic challenges," Fischer said.

"Investors are playing out their beliefs, which in this case is that Trump is going to bring about tax cuts and policy changes that could result in a solid equity market," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"This rally could end anytime, but, for the moment, the enthusiasm is still there."

Dow e-minis were up 23 points, or 0.12 percent at 8:17 a.m. ET (1317 GMT), with 25,044 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 5 points, or 0.23 percent, with 110,197 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 12.75 points, or 0.27 percent, on volume of 19,751 contracts.

Banks have led the post-election charge on hopes that the Fed would raise interest rates in December, when it meets for the last time this year.

Traders have priced in an 85 percent chance of a rate hike next month, according to Thomson Reuters data.

LifeLock jumped 14.4 percent to $23.70 after Symantec said it would buy the identity theft protection services company for $2.3 billion. Symantec was flat.

Headwaters rose 15.9 percent to $23.29 after Australia's Boral Ltd said it would buy the U.S. construction and building products maker for $1.8 billion.

Facebook rose 1.24 percent to $118.47 after announcing a $6 billion share repurchase program.

Tyson Foods dropped 10 percent to $60.50 after the meat processor reported lower-than-expected profit and said its chief executive officer would step down.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)