BEFORE THE BELL: US Stock Futures Turn Higher On Bank Gains

By Steve Goldstein U.S. stock futures turned higher Friday, with bank stocks rising as a package of banking reform rules agreed by Congressional negotiators wasn't as onerous as some had feared. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33 points. Reversing early losses, S&P 500 futures rose 4.6 points to 1075.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.5 points to 1853.00. U.S. stocks suffered through a rocky session Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreating 145 points on a day when 30-year mortgage rates fell to their lowest point in nearly 40 years. Worries about the health of the housing market as well as financial and energy reform weighed. In the early hours of Friday, Senate and House negotiators reached a deal on bank sector legislation, with the deal loosening some of the tougher restrictions that had been proposed. Nonetheless, the bill which still needs to be voted on by the full House and Senate would craft new consumer protections, install new capital and leverage limits on large banks as well as limit proprietary trading activities. Bank reform globally also is in the spotlight ahead of this weekend's G-20 event in Toronto. A committee of banking regulators will pare back some of its planned rules to force banks to set aside billions of dollars of extra capital, the Financial Times reported Friday. In premarket trade, shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) rose between 1% and 2%. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) fell nearly 5% as it reported a 20% rise in fiscal first-quarter profit and said it would buy back up to 31 million shares, though it didn't ship as many BlackBerrys as analysts had anticipated. Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the business software giant, rose over 4% after it reported a stronger-than-forecast 25% rise in fiscal fourth-quarter profit. Oracle said new software license sales rose 14%. BP PLC (BP) slumped 4%. The oil giant said total costs of cleaning the Gulf of Mexico oil spill reached $2.35 billion, as analysts at Nomura suggested the company needs to raise money by selling stock to assure sufficient funding. On the economic calendar, the third release of first-quarter U.S. GDP is due, as is the final reading of the University of Michigan's June consumer sentiment index. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2% in late morning trade, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.9% in Tokyo. Oil futures turned 9 cents a barrel higher, and the euro fell slightly. -By Steve Goldstein; 44 2078 429 424; AskNewswires@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 25, 2010 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)