U.S. stock-index futures opened with modest gains Sunday evening as investors assessed a historic deal to rescue troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, the latest maneuver by authorities attempting to prevent a deeper loss of confidence in the global banking system. Swiss bank UBS Group
UBS
agreed to buy rival Credit Suisse
CS
CH:CSGN
for more than $3 billion, a substantial discount to its Friday closing price, in a deal shepherded by Swiss regulators and closely watched by monetary and economic policy makers around the world.
Don’t miss: Here’s why UBS’s deal to buy Credit Suisse matters to U.S. investors Also Sunday, the Federal Reserve and five other major central banks announced they were taking steps to ensure that U.S. dollars remained readily accessible throughout the global financial system. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00
rose about 100 points, or 0.3%, while futures on the S&P 500
ES00
and Nasdaq-100
NQ00
were also up 0.3%, Oil futures ticked higher after suffering their worst week of 2023 and ending Friday at their lowest since December 2021, with analysts tying the plunge largely to rising recession fears. April West Texas Intermediate crude
CLJ23
rose 0.3% to $66.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while May Brent crude
BRN00,
the global benchmark, ticked up 0.4% to $73.25 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The positive initial tone in markets late Sunday was reflected in a weaker tone for the Japanese yen, which has seen haven-related support this month on rising banking worries. The U.S. dollar was up 0.3% versus the Japanese currency
USDJPY
at 132.18 yen. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.1%. Futures on U.S. Treasurys
TY00,
which also tend to serve as a haven during periods of crisis, were slightly lower. Treasurys rose sharply last week, dragging down yields, which move opposite to price, in volatile trading. Read: Why bond-market volatility is at its highest since the 2008 financial crisis amid rolling fallout from banks Credit Suisse’s 167-year run came to an end after a collapse in the value of its shares and bonds last week. Economists, investors and authorities worried that a collapse by Credit Suisse could amplify contagion fears in the global banking system after the demise earlier this month of California’s Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB. Economists expect U.S. banks to significantly …