US futures rise sharply as ECB meets

[June 06, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock futures are higher but the early gains were trimmed after the European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 97 points to 12,223. Standard & Poor's 500 futures are up 12 points to 1,297.1 and Nasdaq futures are up 26 points to 2,514.75.

Europe's central bank has been urged to cut rates to stimulate a vulnerable economy, but bank President Mario Draghi has said the bank cannot make up for inaction by governments.

Many analysts expected that approach, saying that the bank's inaction would spur political leaders to hash out some new framework.

In the U.S., economists expect the Labor Department to report Wednesday that worker productivity fell at a faster pace in the January-to-March quarter.

[Associated Press]

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