Stock futures up as Europe approves Greece deal
Stock index futures rose on Tuesday after euro zone finance ministers secured a deal that will enable Greece to avoid a March default.
A deal on the 130 billion euro ($172.47 billion) bailout was reached after Greece was forced to accept unpopular fiscal measures, and private bondholders agreed to steeper losses.
After hitting a seven-month high on Monday, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares lost 0.5 percent and the euro shed 0.1 percent on Tuesday as investors booked profits after the agreement.
Analysts said the deal was already priced into the market, which showed a muted response as initial optimism waned on questions about Greece's dismal economic outlook <.EU>
We've had a very strong market of late, partly driven by expectations of a Greek deal. Now that we have it, the market will look for a near-term driver, said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
Any pullbacks will be looked at as potential entry opportunities as investors, in many cases, are underperforming the benchmark S&P 500. As the market keeps impressing, market short-players will be forced to reconsider the macro bets they've made, and thus a run to cover could propel another upside surge.
S&P 500 futures gained 1 point and were 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 rose 42 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 1.5 points.
The S&P 500 is up 8.2 percent for the year.
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(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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