(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stock futures rallied early Monday morning following gains in Europe where according to reports the European Central Bank is planning to design a sovereign debt purchase program based on the paid-in capital contributions made by eurozone central banks.
Futures on the three major US indexes were up 0.4% as of 8:00am ET after CNBC reported the European Central Bank's plan citing sources. It said nothing has been finalized yet however. The report comes ahead of the ECB's next meeting on January 22 at which a full blown QE program is expected to be announced to stimulate economic growth.
U.S. stocks finished a volatile week slightly lower with the S&P 500 falling 0.8% Friday after the mixed December jobs report showed a fall in wages.
On Monday the economic calendar was almost empty save for the labor market conditions index for December at 10:00am ET. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is also making a speech this afternoon. Lockhart is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee for 2015.
Meanwhile crude oil prices extended its slide today after key brokerages slashed their prices forecasts again including which cut its Nymex 2015 crude prediction to $47.15 a barrel in 2015 from $73.75 previously. WTI crude in New York trade was last down $1.42 at $46.93 a barrel.
In corporate activity () will unofficially kick off the earnings season when it reports quarterly results after the closing bell. A number of big banks will begin reporting midweek as well.
It was a busy day for healthcare M&A with Shire (NASDAQ:SHPG) saying it is acquiring () a maker of treatments for rare diseases for $5.2 billion or $46 a share a 51% premium to its share price on December 16 before rumours of the deal surfaced. Shares of NPS surged more than 8% premarket.
Roche also said it is acquiring a majority stake of Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ:FMI) for more than $1 billion. Foundation is a leader in the growing area of gene sequencing of tumour samples. Shares of Foundation doubled premarket.
In addition Tekmira Pharamceuticals (NASDAQ:TKMR) announced a merger with OnCore Biopharma which will create an HBV company focused on developing a cure for hepatitis B.
In the retail sector shares of Tiffany () fell more than 7% before the opening bell after it cut its fiscal 2015 profit outlook saying holiday sales were disappointing.
Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) meanwhile rallied more than 4% premarket after raising its profit and sales outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter on the back of strong holiday results.
In other markets the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closed up 0.45% while Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday. Gold futures rose $7 to $1222 an ounce in electronic trading in New York.
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