Stock futures higher on Greece bailout hopes

[February 10, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock futures rose modestly Wednesday, pointing to a second straight day of gains, as hopes grew that the European Union will provide a rescue package for Greece.

Stocks surged Tuesday as investors expected Greece to get help for its mounting debt problem. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied more than 150 points Tuesday, a day after it closed below 10,000 for the first time in three months.

Major European markets all rose more than 1 percent Wednesday.

EU leaders and Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the economic health of nations that use the euro.

Markets have dropped in recent weeks over concerns that debt problems in countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal would spread and upend a global economic recovery. A bailout for Greece raises hopes that European officials will take additional steps to contain debt worries in other countries.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 27, or 0.3 percent, to 10,031. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.90, or 0.3 percent, to 1,069.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 4.75, or 0.3 percent, to 1,756.75.

Among corporate earnings, the Walt Disney Co. reported fiscal first-quarter profit after the market closed Tuesday that beat analysts' expectations.

Stocks rallied sharply Tuesday. The Dow jumped 1.5 percent, its biggest percentage gain since early November. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes rose more than 1 percent.

European debt problems were the latest in a string of concerns that sent the market retreating over the past four weeks after a furious 10-month rally. China's plans to curtail economic growth to avoid speculative bubbles and President Barack Obama's calls to limit trading by large financial institutions dragged stocks lower in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, bond prices rose modestly on Wednesday after a big sell-off a day earlier. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.63 percent from 3.65 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose modestly.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 1.6 percent, and France's CAC-40 climbed 1.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN BERNARD]

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