NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday amid strong data from the housing sector, yet worries persist that overwhelming debt levels in Greece could fracture the European Union and roil global markets.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 47 points to 12,652. Standard & Poor's 500 futures added 6 points to 1,334.2. Nasdaq composite futures rose 11 points to 2,589.25.
U.S. home builders started work on new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual pace 717,000 homes last month, a surprisingly strong number that suggests the housing market is on the mend. That's 2.6 percent more than March's total, which was revised higher by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
Construction rose for both single-family homes and apartments.
Yet after those figures were released, futures actually gave up some ground with a potentially chaotic situation developing in Greece, where power-sharing talks collapsed Tuesday.
New elections were called for next month, which could determine if the country, reeling from two years of financial turmoil, could bolt from the EU.
There is already concern in other European countries about what that will do to the economy of the entire continent.
On Wednesday, Spain's prime minister warned that the country, which is trembling under a 24.4 percent unemployment rate, could be locked out of international markets due to problems in the EU.
"Right now there is a serious risk that (investors) will not lend us money or they will do so at an astronomical rate," Mariano Rajoy told Spanish lawmakers.
Financial pressures extend well beyond Europe, however.
The Indian rupee hit a new all-time low against the dollar with investors increasingly seeking a safe place to put their money.
The rupee sank to 54.44 against the dollar Wednesday, surpassing the prior low of 54.39 on December 15.
Investors are weighing the potential for a global economic decline against the strength of the U.S. economy and U.S. corporations.
Both Target Corp. and Deere & Co. boosted their outlooks for the year on rising sales.
Target said that revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 5.3 percent, the strongest performance in six years for that period.
Deere posted a 17 percent spike in second quarter profit and predicted record-high global demand for its signature tractors, harvesters and seeders.
And with Investors clamoring for a piece of Facebook when it makes its initial public offering, expected this week, the company said it would put up 25 percent more shares to satiate that demand Wednesday. The announcement came a day after Facebook boosted the price range for its stock to $34 to $38 per share, up from its previous range of $28 to $35.
