(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)*Futures point to opening gains for markets*Seagen surges on Pfizer-buyout report*Union Pacific jumps as CEO to step down*Futures up: Dow 0.72%, S&P 0.86%, Nasdaq 1.12%Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set for a relief
rally on Monday as investors found value in beaten-down shares
after the main benchmarks suffered their worst weekly selloff
this year on worries about restrictive monetary policies.The blue-chip Dow erased its gains for the year in
Friday's selloff and the S&P 500 logged its third
straight week of losses on fears of that a strong U.S. economy
and high inflation will give the Fed more room to raise rates.Futures pointed to a recovery in sentiment on Monday as U.S.
Treasury yields slipped after a strong rally. Rate-sensitive
growth stocks such as Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc
climbed in premarket trading.Tesla added 2.8% after the electric automaker said
its plant in Brandenburg near Berlin was producing 4,000 cars a
week, three weeks ahead of schedule according to a recent
production plan reviewed by Reuters."We are looking at a relief rally today because the market
was down so much last week," said Sam Stovall, chief investment
strategist at CFRA Research in New York."February historically is the second worst month of the year
for the stock market. So investors are concluding from a
seasonal perspective that maybe stocks could rally at least in
the near term."The yield on two-year notes, the most
sensitive to short-term rate expectations, slipped after
touching a near four-month high earlier in the session.Traders added to their bets of a 50-basis-point (bps)
hike in March after data last week showed the Personal
Consumption Expenditures price index, the metric by which the
Fed measures its 2% inflation target, rose 5.4% last month.Fed fund futures show traders have priced in a third 25 bps
hikes this year and see rates peaking at 5.38% by September.At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 235 points, or
0.72%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.86%, and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 134.5 points, or 1.12%.Data on Monday showed new orders for key
U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in
January but orders for durable goods fell more than expected.After last week's hawkish comments from the Fed
policymakers, investors will turn to Fed Governor Philip
Jefferson's speech later in the day.Seagen Inc surged 13.2% after the Wall Street
Journal reported that Pfizer was in early talks to
acquire the biotech firm. Pfizer's shares slipped 1.1%.U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific jumped 9.7% as
Chief Executive Lance Fritz said he would step down, a move that
follows calls from hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners for his
ouster.Fisker Inc climbed 9.2% after the EV maker reported
increased orders for its sports utility vehicle Ocean and
maintained its production forecast for the year.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;
Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Arun Koyyur)