NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures rose Tuesday as leaders in Europe acted swiftly to shore up Spain and its troubled banks.
Finance ministers agreed early Tuesday on the terms of a bailout, saying that the first $36.88 billion in aid for Spain can be ready by the end of the month. Unemployment in Spain is nearing 25 percent,
Markets have been selling off on the uncertainty surrounding the largest European country to date to seek assistance in the debt crisis.
Dow Jones industrial average futures tacked on 23 points to 12,708. Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 1.1 points to 1,350.30 and Nasdaq futures gained 4.5 points at 2,610.50.
The news out of Asia was not so promising and stock markets there lost momentum after China's latest trade figures suggested a sharper downturn for the world's No. 2 economy.
China's growth rate for its imports fell in June by half from May, while exports grew only 11.3 percent, down from 15.3 percent during the previous month. With the economic recovery everywhere still vulnerable to shocks, a retrenchment in china will likely hurt any country that exports oil, commodities or produced goods.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4 percent to 8,857.73 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2 percent at 19,396.36.
The second-quarter earnings season kicked off late Monday with something of a win from Alcoa Inc. The company was hit by charges and falling prices for aluminum, but the loss of $2 million was less than expected and shares rose in premarket trading.
Later Tuesday, the government releases its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The report doesn't carry as much weight as the monthly statics from the Labor Department, but after a terrible June report was released Friday, it is likely more people will be watching the numbers release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Executives at Research in Motion Ltd. will go before investors Tuesday as company shares stumbled close to nine-year lows.
