Investors appeared ready to move back into the stock market Wednesday, pushing index futures higher after five straight days of heavy selling. Ahead of the market's opening, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 120, or 1.80 percent, to 6,789. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures added 11.80, or 1.71 percent, to 701.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 15.50, or 1.45 percent, to 1,087.50. A rebound would be likely be based more on bargain hunting than conviction as very few, if any, analysts and investors expect the day's economic news to show significant improvement. The Institute for Supply Management's services sector index will be released at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Earlier this week, the organization of corporate purchasing executives said its index tracking the manufacturing sector shrank for the 13th straight month in February. Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release its beige book, an assessment of the economy by region. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will testify on Capitol Hill for a second day on the president's budget proposal. Investors got a bit of good news from the housing industry Wednesday, as homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. said its loss in the fiscal first quarter narrowed as it slashed expenses. Still, revenue plummeted 51 percent as the company sold fewer homes. Retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. said its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 27 percent on weaker sales of non-food items and the heavy discounting needed to move out merchandise during a sluggish holiday season. The earnings reports provided more signs of weakness in both housing and consumer spending, two of the most critical sectors of the economy. Many analysts believe that a turnaround in the housing market is necessary before the economy can heal, while consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. On Tuesday, stocks extended their losses despite early attempts at a rally as investors found little reason to place bets amid ongoing pessimism about the economy. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell to its first close below 700 since October 1996. The losses were milder than on Monday, when the Dow Jones industrial average sank 300 points and both the Dow and the S&P 500 index finished at their lowest levels in more than a decade. The market, frustrated and impatient, has been searching for any concrete signs of when the economy might improve, looking to Washington for answers. All the while, investors have been battling unrelenting concerns about the stability of the financial sector, which continues to show weakness despite receiving billions of dollars in government funds. Bond prices were mixed early Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.98 percent from 2.89 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, slipped to 0.25 percent from 0.26 percent late Tuesday. The dollar fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. Light, sweet crude rose $1.51 to $43.16 a barrel in electronic pre-market trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Markets overseas advanced Wednesday on hopes for a big Chinese stimulus package that could help boost economies around the world. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.85 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.47 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 1.63 percent, Germany's DAX index jumped 2.45 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.99 percent.

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