The futures are indicating a modest oversold bounce this morning. This comes after the Dow set another 6-year low on Friday and finished the week with its worst week since October.
In its quarterly monetary policy report released today, China’s central bank warned of deflation risks. The report states, "At present, the power to push prices up is weak, and the downward pressure is relatively strong. Deflation risks are relatively big."
Citigroup is up 8% pre-open on reports that it is in discussions with the U.S. government for it to boost its stake in the bank to as much as 40%. To do so, the government would convert much of its preferred shares into common stock. While this would certainly dilute the equity of common shareholders, it would fall short of full nationalization of the bank. On Friday, Citi, along with many of the banks, plunged midday on fears that the government was contemplating full nationalization of some banks.
Other U.S. banks are also up strongly ahead of the bell: Bank of America up 12%, Wells Fargo up 8%, SunTrust Banks up 7%, U.S. Bancorp up 5%, JPMorgan up 4%.