By Medha Singh
(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to extend gains on Wednesday, after hitting a four-week high in the previous session, as strong earnings from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America as well as a $22 billion deal in the fintech sector lifted sentiment.
Goldman Sachs climbed 3.2 percent in premarket trading after reporting an increase in trading revenue, the first Wall Street bank so far to show growth in that business.
Bank of America Corp jumped 5.1 percent after the second-biggest U.S. lender's quarterly profit beat estimates on a growing loan book that helped overshadow a drop in revenue in investment banking.
U.S. financial technology provider Fiserv Inc said it will buy payment processor First Data Corp in a $22 billion deal, making it one of the largest acquisitions in the financial technology sector.
Fiserv shares fell 5.5 percent, while those of First Data Corp soared 18.5 percent.
"Corporations saying that they are going to spend money to acquire other companies to continue growing shows that 'animal sprit' is still alive," said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
"This counters the recession argument and that makes you think that the market has over discounted the slowing that's going on in the world."
United Airlines rose 6.2 percent after reporting a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street expectations, lifting shares of other airlines.
At 8:51 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 0.44 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 0.18 percent.
U.S. stocks rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday, lifting the benchmark index 11 percent above its December low as technology and internet stocks surged and investors shrugged off weak results from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
"JPMorgan and Citi reported numbers that were weak from initial impressions but their stocks ended up rallying which goes to show that what was priced in was too negative," said Antonelli.
S&P 500 companies are expected to report a 14 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings, much lower than the 20.1 percent growth forecast in October, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Nordstrom Inc shares slid 7.5 percent after the department store operator said it expected its full-year profit to be at the lower end of its prior forecast due to disappointing holiday sales.
Snap Inc fell 11.3 percent in heavy premarket trading after the Snapchat-owner said Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone will be leaving less than a year after taking the job.
Investors will keep an eye on a no confidence for British Prime Minister Theresa May's government after an overwhelming defeat of her Brexit deal by the parliament left Britain's exit from the European Union in chaos but did little to change U.S. stocks on Tuesday.
Vote will be held at 1900 GMT, or 2:00 p.m. ET.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a summary of the state of U.S. business across the central bank's 12 regional districts, is also expected at 2:00 p.m. ET.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru, additonal reporting by Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
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