Stock futures rise, point to higher opening

[April 23, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock futures rose Friday as concerns about Greece's ongoing debt problems eased.

European markets rallied sharply after Greek officials said they would make a formal request to tap a rescue package from the 15 other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund. The debt-burdened country will have access to about $53.37 billion.

U.S. stocks suffered Thursday morning as concerns about Greece's debt problem resurfaced after a report showed the country's deficit last year was larger than first thought. Greece's debt crisis has spooked investors who worry that other European nations will also struggle with repaying debt, which would stunt a global economic recovery.

The Greek debt problem has been one of the few issues that have made investors pause in recent months as stocks continue a consistent climb higher. The Dow Jones industrial average is on pace for its eighth straight weekly gain. It rose 9 points Thursday.

Investors looking to focus on domestic reports Friday will get two key pieces of economic data early in the day. The Commerce Department is releasing its monthly reports on new home sales and durable goods orders. Both are expected to show growth, which would fit in a recent pattern of economic data that shows the economy is growing, albeit slowly.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 16, or 0.1 percent, to 11,084. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.10, or 0.3 percent, to 1,204.80, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.75, or 0.1 percent, to 2,038.00.

The new home sales report comes a day after the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose more than expected in March. That report helped buoy homebuilder stocks Thursday.

The Commerce Department's report on new home sales Friday is also expected to show an increase in March after hitting a record-low a month earlier. The report is expected to show sales rose 7.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters.

The report is due out at 10 a.m. EDT.

The department is also expected to report that orders for large manufactured goods such as autos and machinery rose 0.3 percent in March. It would be the fourth straight monthly gain and provide further evidence that the manufacturing sector is among the strongest as the country emerges from recession.

Durable good orders rose 0.9 percent in February.

The report is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, bond prices dipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.79 percent from 3.78 percent late Thursday.

The dollar dipped against other major currencies, including the euro, which got a boost from the Greece bailout efforts.

Gold and oil fell.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 1.3 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.6 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.3 percent.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN BERNARD]

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