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 The banking industry has been battered in recent months as defaults on home loans have risen and rendered some mortgage-backed securities essentially worthless. Major financial institutions, including Citi and its competitors, have had to book large write-downs on those holdings
-- a trend that has left the markets nervous about the full extent of the damage.
A pullback in oil prices aided the market's gains. A barrel of light, sweet crude dropped $1.08 to $96.62 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Dow Jones industrials futures advanced 68, or 0.50 percent, to 12,840, while Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 11.60, or 0.83 percent, to 1,421.00, and Nasdaq 100 index futures jumped 11.00 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,011.00.
Government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.87 percent from 3.85 percent late Monday.
Investors are also awaiting a reading on November consumer confidence from the Conference Board, due at 10 a.m. EST. Analysts surveyed by Thomson/IFR expect the index to fall to 90.5 from 95.6 the prior month, as gas prices rose and loans became harder to obtain.
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 Abu Dhabi's purchase of a stake in Citigroup will make the Gulf Arab state one of the bank's largest shareholders. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan called Citi "a premier brand and with tremendous opportunities for growth."
In other corporate news, Barclays Group PLC, Britain's No. 3 bank by market value, on Tuesday said retail banking in the United Kingdom was delivering good growth and projected 2007 earnings per share would be "broadly in line" with the current market consensus.
Pulte Homes Inc. late Monday said housing demand remains weak and inventories high but the homebuilder reaffirmed its fourth-quarter forecast. The company expects to break even or earn as much as 10 cents per share.
Overseas stock markets were mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.66 percent; Germany's DAX index lost 0.76 percent and France's CAC-40 declined 0.43 percent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.58 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.51 percent.
[Associated Press; By LAUREN VILLAGRAN]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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