The rise in stock futures follows a follows a drop in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index Wednesday after corporate news stirred concerns about how well companies' profits are faring.Early Thursday, Dow futures rose 58, or 0.41 percent, to 14,200. S&P 500 futures rose 6.70, or 0.43 percent, to 1,580.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 9.00, or 0.41 percent, to 2,205.50.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.66 percent from 4.65 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Light, sweet crude rose 68 cents to $81.98 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 1.64 percent after a rating agency upgraded the country's debt. Stocks in Europe also rose amid upbeat sentiment about access to credit and after Telefonica SA, the Spanish telecommunications company, said it would pay a one euro dividend. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.66 percent, Germany's DAX index advanced 0.62 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.54 percent.
In corporate news, Medtronic Inc.'s drug-coated stent Endeavor moved past a big regulatory hurdle as a panel of government experts recommended the Food and Drug Administration approve the artery-opening device.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. warned that a drop in September same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, would hurt profits.
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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 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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