MW: Stock futures gain as GM arm gets more U.S. cash
U.S. consumer-confidence data on deck; Dow Chemical credit ratings cut
U.S. stock market futures rose Tuesday, gaining after the government expanded its bailout plans for General Motors Corp., while investors await the latest reading on consumer confidence, which is expected to show a slight recovery.
S&P 500 futures rose 6.70 points to 877.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11.25 points at 1,186.75. Dow industrials futures climbed 43 points.
U.S. stocks fell Monday but finished well above their worst levels of the day, as rising oil prices pressured consumer-related shares and investors ditched weaker-performing financial stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31 points, the S&P 500 index fell 3 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 19 points.
After rebounding in the last couple of sessions, crude-oil prices moved slightly lower in electronic trading, with the February-dated light crude contract losing 40 cents at $39.62 a barrel.
The dollar weakened in foreign-exchange trading, dropping 0.6% to 90.14 Japanese yen. The euro gained 1.2% at $1.4201.
On the economic calendar, the latest figures on consumer confidence are due at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Economists polled by MarketWatch are expecting the December reading to recover slightly, improving to 45.8 from 44.9 in November.
The auto industry will again be in focus. Late Monday, GMAC Financial Services, the lending arm of General Motors , said that it's receiving $5 billion from the government in exchange for preferred stock. GM could also get up to another $1 billion from the Treasury Department so it can take part in a deal to help GMAC raise more capital.
The latest round of funding for the stricken auto giant comes on top of the $17.4 billion in assistance the government agreed to provide GM and Chrysler LLC earlier this month. See full story.
Shares of GM, part of the Dow industrials, jumped 12% in Frankfurt trading, with smaller rival Ford Motor Co. gaining 12.4%. Ford wasn't part of the federal assistance program.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemical Co. may remain in focus. Both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's downgraded their credit ratings on the chemicals giant late Monday, based on Kuwait's decision over the weekend to back out of a joint venture with the firm.
Rohm & Haas Co. may also be downgraded, the rating agencies said, because funding from the joint venture was to have helped Dow finance the long-pending acquisition of Rohm & Haas.
Also Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that home and auto insurer Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will close a $2.48 billion deal on Jan. 1 to buy back the 34% of Nationwide Financial Services Inc. ) that it doesn't currently own.
The price was hammered out months ago before life insurers got hit by the global financial crisis, but Nationwide Mutual maintains the deal will benefit policyholders -- who own the company -- over the long term.
In international markets Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 1.3% in Tokyo's last trading day of the year. The French CAC 40 index rose 1% as European shares moved higher.
