Before the Bell: Futures Higher on Greece Rescue Hopes

Posted Feb 10th 2010 8:14AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Market Matters, Walt Disney (DIS), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Economic Data, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures edged higher Wednesday with Wall Street seemingly aiming to continue the prior day's rally and following overseas markets higher. Meanwhile, investors awaited news on a Greece and other of Europe's debt-ridden nations rescue plan and possible testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

U.S. stocks surged Tuesday after indications that Germany may lead a rescue to aid Greece with its debt problems. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 150 points, or 1.5%, closing above 10,000 again, and other leading indexes rose by over 1% as well.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department is due to release the December trade balance at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, before the opening bell. The January Treasury budget is also on tap later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Bernanke was due to appear before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on the unwinding of Fed liquidity programs, but the hearing was postponed due to snow. The Fed, however, may still release Bernanke's planned testimony about the Fed's actions and programs during the height of the financial crisis.

Also, Senate Democrats circulated a jobs bill Tuesday that, according to reports, is light on new initiatives on boosting hiring and heavy with provisions sought by lobbyists for business groups, doctors and the satellite broadcasting industry. But it seems for now the snow is crippling Washington and it is unlikely the Senate could pass the bill this week.

Overseas, stocks rallied worldwide as the prospect of German aid for Greece drove the nation's bond yields down the most since the creation of the euro. However, a German government spokesman told Reuters a decision has not yet been reached. European Union leaders will issue a statement on Greece's debt crisis during a Thursday meeting, officials said, without giving details of what it would say. Markets reacted well to news and the euro's plummet was halted.

Among stocks in the news are Walt Disney Co. (DIS), which reported better-than-expected earning; Sprint Nextel (S), which reported a narrower loss; Baidu.com (BIDU), which said it could gain from Google's threat to pull out of China; and ArcelorMittal (MT), which returned to profit, but gave a tepid outlook.