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 Citi and Merrill, among others, have faced trouble with securities they hold that are tied to subprime loans, those made to borrowers with poor credit. A sharp pullback in housing prices has tripped up some borrowers and sent mortgages defaults higher. That soured debt, in turn, has hurt the banks.
While investors seemed to look past some unease about subprime debt on Tuesday, concerns about inflation persisted, with gold prices surging past $800. Gold has in recent sessions moved above this psychological benchmark; prior to its recent movement it hadn't traded above $800 since 1980.
With no major economic news due Tuesday, investors will be focused on the corporate profit results due from names such as Office Depot Inc. and Molson Coors Brewing Co.
In addition, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak later in the day. As always, investors will be watching for any clues about policymaker's plans for interest rates. They're particularly anxious after the Fed indicated last week that it might stop lowering rates.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 69, or 0.51 percent, to 13,624. After choppy sessions in recent days, the Dow now sits more than 620 points below its record close on Oct. 9.
Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 6.60, or 0.44 percent, to 1,512.00 and Nasdaq 100 index futures 10.25, or 0.46 percent, to 2,224.00.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.36 percent from 4.34 percent late Monday. The dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
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 Light, sweet crude rose $1.75 to $95.73 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Tech stocks could get a boost from investor enthusiasm over Chinese e-commerce portal Alibaba.com. The stock nearly tripled in its debut on the Hong Kong stock market Tuesday. Some analysts dismissed the run-up as the work of speculators, however. The company, in which Yahoo Inc. is an investor, allows companies in China and overseas to trade with one another online. Alibaba raised $1.5 billion through its global offering of a 17 percent stake
-- the biggest IPO by a Chinese Internet company.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 1.62 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.71 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.43 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.63 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.33 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/
Nasdaq Stock Market:
http://www.nasdaq.com/
[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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