U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday as American Express and Texas Instruments results proved to be as glum, but not significantly worse, than the market had feared. S&P 500 futures rose 5.5 points to 836.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3 points to 1,182.50. Dow industrial futures added 48 points. U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, led by defensive plays like utilities and telecoms after a wave of layoff announcements, including 20,000 jobs cuts at Caterpillar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38 points, the S&P 500 rose 4 points and the Nasdaq Composite added 12 points. After the close of trade, Timothy Geithner was approved by the Senate as Treasury Secretary by a 60-to-34 vote. Fannie Mae meanwhile said it will need between $11 billion and $16 billion to cover losses on home-mortgage defaults. The economic docket is on the quiet side, with the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for November is due at 9 a.m. Eastern, with January consumer confidence data coming at 10 a.m. The euro briefly hit a one-week high following data showing that German business climate rose for the first time in eight months. A report that a European Central Bank member said there will "probably" be more rate cuts helped to quell the euro advance. Gold futures fell back under $900 an ounce, while crude-oil futures fell over $1 a barrel. A wave of company results generally showed profits declining sharply. American Express climbed 5.9% in pre-open trade after reporting a 79% drop in fourth-quarter profit. Citigroup analysts said provisions for losses weren't as high as forecast -- but even that could be a double-edged sword. "We fear that investors will be skeptical that management built enough cushion given the deteriorating economic picture," they noted. DuPont swung to a $629 million fourth-quarter loss and cut its 2009 outlook. DuPont shares were steady. Verizon Communications met expectations for its profit as broadband and video revenue climbed 42%. Texas Instruments , the chip maker, said it would cut 3,400 jobs as its profit dropped to $107 million from $756 million. "Fourth-quarter results were better than expected, especially on the combination of gross margin and inventory burn. In addition, although smaller than we expected, its cost-cutting actions should help improve profitability," analysts at Deutsche Bank said. Siemens rose in Frankfurt as the German conglomerate held onto its earnings outlook for the year following a profit drop of 81% after the year-ago sale of its automotive electronics arm. Nomura Holdings , the Japanese broker that's taken on much of Lehman Brothers business in Europe and Asia, reported a $3.8 billion quarterly loss, hurt by investments with Bernard Madoff and Iceland. Yahoo results come after the close of trade. Overseas, the Nikkei 225 rallied 4.9% in Tokyo. But Europe stocks turned lower, with the FTSE 100 falling 1.3% in London.

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