Stock Futures Rise as European Anxiety Eases

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures followed the European markets higher Tuesday as Spanish yields, though still at elevated levels, eased after finance ministers reached an agreement on supporting Spain's troubled banks.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were rising 35 points, or 46.71 points above fair value, at 12,720. Futures for the S&P 500 were up by 2.3 points, or 4.14 points above fair value, at 1352. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 6.5 points, or 8.09 points above fair value, at 2613.

"The Euro group has agreed to give Spain €30 billion, because you never know when €30billion might not come in handy," noted Paul Donovan, global economist at UBS. "The route for the cash matters. Does Spain end up with the debt on its balance sheet, or is cash passed straight to the banks (retrospectively - initially the money is a government liability)?"

Italian yields were also falling while remaining at high levels amid some expectations that Germany's top court will approve plans to try to more easily disburse eurozone rescue funds.

"The market is behaving like it is nervously expecting a big event," said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. "The stock market has been jumpy with frequent reversals in direction."

In other European news, the Office for National Statistics said that U.K. factory output increased 1.2% in May.

The FTSE in London was rising 0.85% and the DAX in Germany was up 1.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock index finished down 0.16% and the Nikkei in Japan closed lower by 0.44% after China reported weak trade data that pointed to more signs of a slowdown in the Asian economic powerhouse.

August crude oil futures were down 50 cents to $85.49 a barrel. August gold futures were up $4.60 to $1,593.70 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was down 5/32, raising the yield to 1.533%, while the dollar was rising 0.16%, according to the dollar index.

The benchmark U.S. stock indices retreated Monday amid nervousness about second-quarter reporting season and rising Spanish bond yields.