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 JPMorgan Chase & Co. was in talks to boost its offer for Bear Stearns Cos. to $10 per share from $2, according to The New York Times. The discussions were aimed at soothing Bear Stearns shareholders upset over the JPMorgan's earlier offer, made a week ago when the investment bank was near collapse.
While the Federal Reserve would need to sign off on any changes to the deal, which it helped broker last week, any sign that Bear Stearns could fetch more than originally thought could help boost Wall Street's mood. The session before the $2 offer arrived for Bear, the stock had finished at $30.
Bear Stearns ran into trouble with mortgage-backed securities and an evaporation of liquidity amid nervousness in the credit markets. Wall Street has faced concerns for months that troubles with soured debt and a lack of liquidity could take down more banks.
Beyond the troubles of the investment banks, Wall Street will also be looking at the housing sector
-- the root of much of Wall Street's current angst. A report expected from The National Association of Realtors on February's sales of existing homes is expected to show sales fell compared with January, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Financial/IFR.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 52, or 0.42 percent, to 12,380. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures advanced 7.80, or 0.59 percent, to 1,332.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 6.80, or 0.39 percent, to 1,756.80.
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 The advance in futures follows a volatile but ultimately strong week for the markets. The Dow and the S&P each showed gains of more than 3 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq advanced more than 2 percent.
Bond prices fell Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.36 percent from 3.34 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell $1.19 to $100.65 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.02 percent. Markets in Europe were closed for Easter Monday.
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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 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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