4:12 AM
Stock index futures rise; BofA and Goldman eyed
Addison Ray
Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:58am EDT
(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.76 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.67 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.81 percent at 0940 GMT.
IBM (IBM.N) will be in the spotlight after the company said signings of new business at its services division surged 16 percent in the second quarter, trouncing expectations and raising hopes that 2011 will be a good year for the technology sector. IBM shares traded in Frankfurt (IBM.F) were up 1.3 percent.
Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) plans to cut 15 percent of its staff and sell a set-top box factory as part of a plan to cut annual expenses by $1 billion as the network equipment maker tries to revive its fortunes.
Investors awaited results from a flurry of companies on Tuesday, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), Coca Cola (KO.N), Wells Fargo (WFC.N) and Apple (AAPL.O).
On the macro side, investors braced for data on housing starts and building permits, due at 1230 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 575,000 annualized rate in June versus 560,000 in May, and a total of 600,000 permits in June compared with 609,000 in the prior month.
European stocks were up 0.8 percent in morning trade, halting a sharp two-week retreat, led by tech shares after IBM's strong results.
Two weeks before their final deadline, President Barack Obama and top lawmakers will face more pressure on Tuesday for a debt deal amid a growing sense that a last-ditch plan taking shape in Congress may be the only way to avoid a devastating U.S. default.
U.S. stocks dropped on Monday as bank shares bore the brunt of investor frustration over governments' inability to solve debt crises in the United States and Europe.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 94.57 points, or 0.76 percent, to 12,385.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX declined 10.70 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,305.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC fell 24.69 points, or 0.89 percent, to 2,765.11.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)
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