NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors showed relief early Monday following a report that Citigroup Inc. is in talks for the U.S. government to boost its stake in the bank.
Overseas markets rose on the report, and U.S. stock market pointed to a higher open.
Top stocks tumbled last week as investors worried that the government would be forced to funnel more money to Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. and, in the process, completely wipe out shareholders. The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Citi is negotiating to increase the U.S. government's stake to as much as 40 percent. The government, which has already invested $25 billion in the company, would convert its preferred shares to common shares; this would leave existing shareholders with some stake, albeit one that is diluted, the Journal reported.
Investors have been anticipating that the overall number of shares would increase and therefore reduce the value of each share. But investors also seemed to welcome the report because it lessened uncertainty about the company.
"People don't want to see the banks nationalized but they know something has to be done for Citi," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of trading at brokerage Canaccord Adams in New York. "A lot of people were scared of full-fledged nationalization."
"People are thinking at least maybe we know what they're doing now," he said.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 58, or 0.79 percent, to 7,410. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 9.10, or 1.16 percent, to 778.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.25, or 0.70 percent, to 1,180.00.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.42 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.20 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.95 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.54 percent.
Bond prices fell as demand for the safety of government debt eased. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.85 percent from 2.79 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.30 percent from 0.26 percent Friday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose 19 cents to $40.22 per barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Shares of Citigroup Inc. rose 7.7 percent in electronic trading. The best stock ended Friday at $1.95.
Bank of America shares rose 10.8 percent after closing Friday at $3.79.
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