TIMOTHY GEITHNER

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday, a day after markets clawed back from a steep sell-off and as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner flew to Europe to press for united action to tackle the region's deepening debt crisis.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, a day after markets clawed back from a steep sell-off and as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner flew to Europe to press for united action to tackle the region's deepening debt crisis.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.51 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.35 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.47 percent at 0807 GMT (4:08 a.m. ET).

Germany inched toward a wider ban on naked short selling of stocks and Italy approved austerity measures on Tuesday to contain a euro zone debt crisis that could lead U.S. officials to urge stress tests for European banks.

Germany inched toward a wider ban on naked short selling of stocks and Italy approved austerity measures on Tuesday to contain a euro zone debt crisis that could lead U.S. officials to urge stress tests for European banks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will urge European officials this week to conduct some form of banking system stress tests, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing an Obama administration official.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were down 2.2 to 2.5 percent at 0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, pointing to a steep decline on Wall Street.

The United States suggested Europe's debt crisis would have minimal impact on global growth, but China took a more pessimistic view, warning it would impact demand for its exports and other regions would suffer too.

China struck a conciliatory note in talks with the United States on Monday by vowing to spur domestic demand and keeping a guarded opening to exchange rate reform, which the Obama administration says is needed to rebalance the global economy.

China struck a conciliatory note at the opening of talks with the United States on Monday by vowing to spur domestic demand and keeping a guarded opening to exchange rate reform, which the Obama administration says is needed to rebalance the global economy.

China will stick to gradual reform of its yuan currency, President Hu Jintao told the United States at the start of high-level talks on Monday in which North Korea emerged as a point of potential contention.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday the United States and China need to work together to reduce trade barriers and develop a more balanced global economy.

Volatility will be the name of the game on Wall Street this week as uncertainty over the euro-zone debt crisis remains and investors will need nerves of steel to make bets on risky assets like stocks.

Europe's financial crisis should have only minimal impact on the global recovery as governments put in place necessary policy counter-measures, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said Sunday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said a strengthened global economy is now in better shape to handle the strains emanating from Europe's crisis, China's Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry has dismissed as groundless U.S. accusations that China is failing to crack down on copyright piracy, ahead of talks with top U.S. officials next week, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he did not agree with current opinion that the sovereign debt crisis had become the biggest threat to the world economy, China's Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The U.S. Treasury Department has hired Lazard Ltd to advise the government on an initial public offering of General Motors Co, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The world's largest bilateral trade gap -- and how to narrow it -- will be the focus of high-level China-U.S. talks in Beijing next week, with export barriers taking center stage and the yuan lurking on the side.

France and Germany pledged on Thursday to work together to solve a European debt crisis and support the euro, patching up a public rift that had rattled markets around the world.