Stock futures point toward higher open

[June 10, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock index futures rose Wednesday, pointing to a higher opening on Wall Street following gains in overseas markets and rising oil prices.

Major markets in Asia and Europe were up about 2 percent as oil prices touched a new high above $71 a barrel for the year, helping to push resource producers' stock prices higher.

Commodity prices have been rising in recent days, reflecting hopes that economic activity will improve and boost the appetite for basic materials. Declines in the dollar have also pushed commodity prices higher. The dollar was falling again Wednesday morning, while gold prices rose.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 112, or 1.28 percent, to 8,854. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 13.80, or 1.47 percent, to 953.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 14.75, or 0.98 percent, to 1,515.50.

In Asia, markets got a boost Wednesday as inflation fears in China eased. A new report showed prices fell in May for a fourth month. That could give the government more room to carry out a major stimulus plan.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 4 percent.

In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.9 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2 percent.

Investors will get insight on how the U.S. economy is faring Wednesday afternoon when the Federal Reserve releases its beige book report, which measures economic activity by region. The report is due out at 2 p.m. EDT.

U.S. markets have turned in a flat performance for the first two days of the week. The Dow gained less than two points Monday and then fell less than two points Tuesday.

In corporate news, Chrysler LLC took a step toward exiting bankruptcy protection after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a temporary stay halting a sale of the majority of its assets to Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA. The deal is expected to close Wednesday.

Oil rose $1.22 to $71.23 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, bond prices fell. The fall comes ahead of an auction of $19 billion in 10-year Treasury notes. There was strong demand for the government's three-year note sale Tuesday, which provide some reassurances that interest rates might not creep high enough to hinder an economic recovery.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.89 percent from 3.86 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.18 percent from 0.17 percent late Tuesday.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN BERNARD]

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