Stock futures advance after euro zone agreement
Stock index futures rose on Friday after European Union leaders agreed on measures that partially addresses the region's crippling sovereign debt crisis.
The summit agreed on stricter budget rules for the euro zone but failed to secure changes to the EU treaty among all the member countries. Investors appeared to embrace the deal, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares <.FTEU3> gaining 1 percent in choppy trade.
There are more positives than negatives in the plan, and that gives a sense that the leaders understand the scale of the problem and know how to deal with it, said Rick Fier, vice president at Conifer Securities in New York. This isn't another example of kicking the can down the road.
Equities have risen in anticipation of a plan, with the S&P 500 up 6.5 percent since November 25. But Wall Street tumbled on Thursday after the European Central Bank dashed hopes for an even stronger deal. Markets have been volatile, reacting to every headline out of Europe.
Banks, which have been pressured by the uncertainty, rallied in premarket trading. Bank of America Corp
S&P 500 futures were up 8.9 points and above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures jumped 106 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 14.75 point.
Chipmakers will be in focus a day after Texas Instruments Inc
Texas Instruments fell 6 percent to $28.12 in light premarket trading.
The Commerce Department will release October International Trade data at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists expect a deficit of $43.5 billion in October versus a September deficit of $43.11 billion.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers preliminary December consumer sentiment index will come at 9:55 a.m. EST. Economists predicted a reading of 65.5, compared with 64.1 in the final November report.
Wall Street fell sharply on Thursday after the ECB dashed hopes of a financial bazooka to contain the crisis. The S&P and Nasdaq each fell about 2 percent, while the Dow was off more than 1 percent.
(Reporting By Ryan Vlastelica; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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