Stock Futures Rise as Crude Rockets Higher as OPEC Hints Deal Is Near

New York (Nov 30)  Stock futures climbed on Wednesday morning as crude oil rocketed higher on high hopes for a production deal among major oil-producing nations.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.27%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.22%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.12%.

Crude oil surged more than 8% as reports leaked that delegates from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries were close to reaching an agreement on production. According to an unnamed delegate, the bloc was close to agreeing to cut output by 1.4 million barrels a day, higher than a targeted 1.2 million reported earlier in the day. Non-OPEC members, including Russia, are also targeted to cut output by 600,000 barrels a day.

"I am very optimistic we're going to come with very fruitful results," Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said, Bloomberg reported. "There will be a cut, yes, definitely."

Hopes of a deal have fluctuated as individual OPEC members raised doubt over their cooperation. Some members, including Iran, were hesitant to cede market share and suggested the countries that had raised production in recent months should bear the burden of a cut.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 8.5% to $49.05 a barrel on Wednesday morning.

Oil stocks got a burst of energy in premarket trading on hopes of an OPEC deal. Major oilers including Exxon Mobil (XOM) , Chevron (CVX) , Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A)  and BP (BP) were sharply higher before the bell.

The labor market will go under the microscope on Wednesday morning with the ADP National Employment Report for November and personal income and outlays for October out before the bell. The official jobs report for November, one of the most closely watched pieces of data for the month, will be released on Friday. Economists anticipate 180,000 jobs to have been added to the U.S. economy in November and for the unemployment rate to hold at 4.9%.

Source: TheStreet