U.S. stock futures rose slightly Tuesday on continued optimism
that Greece is nearing a bailout deal with its creditors.
The move higher in futures trading comes a day after a rally
across global stock markets that helped propel the Nasdaq Composite
to a fresh record.
S&P 500 futures rose 5.5 points, or 0.3%, to 2118. E-mini
Dow futures climbed 39 points, or 0.2%, to 18064, and e-mini
Nasdaq-100 futures gained 13 points, or 0.3%, to 4546. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
European markets rose after Greece's creditors suggested for the
first time that a deal to avoid the country's bankruptcy was in
sight. Early Tuesday Pierre Moscovici, European commissioner for
economic and financial affairs, told French radio France Inter that
he expects a deal to be reached this week.
Greek stocks rose nearly 4.5%, while France's CAC 40 and
Germany's DAX added 1.3%. On Tuesday Greek stocks jumped 9%, and
the CAC 40 and DAX both rallied 3.8%.
Though U.S. stocks have had a strong second quarter so far, with
the S&P 500 up 2.7% for the quarter through Monday's close,
some investors remain skeptical. U.S. stocks have struggled to
break out of a tight trading range so far this year. The S&P
500 had added 3.1% in 2015 through Monday's close, compared with
the 6.2% climb the index posted in 2014 through June 20.
"If we have a Greek agreement we could have a continued bounce,
but I think once again the market will run out of steam," said
Andrew Slimmon, who oversees about $5.3 billion as managing
director of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Global Investment
Solutions. "Historically the market doesn't make a lot of headway
in the summer and I don't see why it would be any different this
year."
The modest uptick Tuesday morning comes ahead of several
economic reports due later in the day. A report on durable goods
orders in May is expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with economists calling
for a decline of 1%. Also scheduled for Tuesday are data on May new
home sales.
On Monday, U.S. stocks were lifted by gains in health-care and
financial companies.
In commodity markets, gold futures slipped 0.2% to $1182.50 an
ounce. Crude-oil futures declined 0.4% to $60.16 a barrel.
Treasury prices fell, pushing the 10-year yield up to 2.394%
from 2.362% on Monday. Some investors have been concerned about the
health-care sector becoming overheated, as the group has risen more
than any other S&P 500 sector in the past year. But ongoing
mergers-and-acquisition chatter as well as solid earnings have
continued to push shares higher.
"Health care is a very fertile ground for stock-picking," said
Mr. Slimmon. "Yes, there are a number of biotech stocks that don't
have a lot of earnings that are obviously expensive, but some
stocks like Amgen Inc. and Allergan PLC are still attractive."
In corporate news, Darden Restaurants Inc. shares rose 6.7%
premarket after the restaurant chain reported across-the-board
sales growth and said it plans to create a real-estate-investment
trust for restaurants it owns.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com
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