US Stock Futures Gain After Greek Deal; Durable Goods Orders Eyed

By Satya Nagendra Padala | November 27 2012 4:03 AM

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Tuesday after euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a deal overnight on the financing of the second aid package to debt-laden Greece.

Reuters

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange December 13, 2011.

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The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.11 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.21 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.26 percent.

After nearly 12 hours of talks at their third meeting in two weeks in Brussels, the Eurogroup agreed on a debt reduction of 40 billion euros for Athens, and the country will get nearly 44 billion euros ($57 billion) as the next tranche of bailout loans beginning Dec 13.

Meanwhile, investors are expected to focus on durable goods orders data to be reported on Tuesday. Durable goods orders, which measure the change in the total value of new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, are expected to decline 0.6 percent in October after gaining 9.8 percent in September. The core durable goods orders for October, which will exclude transportation items, are expected to decline 0.5 percent after increasing 2 percent in September.

The Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for the month of November after the market opens. Economists are predicting that confidence may improve slightly to 73.0, from 72.2 in the previous month.

On the earnings front, Analog Devices and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters will report their quarterly earnings after the closing bell. Analog Devices is expected to report fourth quarter net income of $0.57 per share on revenues of $697.67 million, down from $0.60 per share on revenues of $711.88 million in the same period last year.

European stock markets advanced after the Greece deal and are currently trading higher with the FTSE 100 up by 28.10 points, the DAX30 up by 45.32 points and the CAC 40 up by 24.84 points.

Asian stock markets mostly ended higher as traders were encouraged after international lenders agreed to release the much-needed bailout funds for Greece. The Japanese Nikkei gained 0.37 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite advanced 0.87 percent, and India's BSE Sensex surged 1.40 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.08 percent and China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.30 percent.

The BSE Sensex climbed 250 points after rating agency Moody's said the outlook on its Baa3 rating for India was stable, citing the country's strong economic growth and high savings and investment rates.