Stock index futures go up

PanARMENIAN.Net - Stock index futures pointed to a strong open on Wall Street on Tuesday, August 23, with futures for the S&P 500 up 1.97 percent, Dow Jones futures up 1.62 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.61 percent at 3:54 a.m. EDT, Reuters reported.

Banks will be in focus after Swiss lender UBS AG said it plans to slash around 3,500 jobs, almost half of them from its investment bank, as it seeks to shave some 2 billion francs from annual costs by the end of 2013.

European stocks were up 1.6 percent in early trade, led by a rebound in cyclical shares such as industrials and miners, but volumes were thin as investors remained wary of another false start after last week's rebound from a 20-percent nosedive quickly fizzled out.

Market players were also cautious ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's key speech at an annual central bank conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, during which he could unveil fresh measures to revive the struggling economy.

The Fed chairman looks set to discuss ways the central bank could tweak its balance sheet as a means to put further pressure on medium- and long-term interest rates and anchor them at low levels. These could be implemented in September and October at coming Fed meetings.

After the bell on Monday, shares of Goldman Sachs fell 2.4 percent to $104. Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein has hired Reid Weingarten, a high-profile Washington defense attorney, according to a government source familiar with the matter.

Investigations continue of Goldman and its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis.