U.S. stock futures rose, indicating that benchmark indexes may extend yesterday’s rally, after the euro area’s leaders agreed to expand their bailout fund to $1.4 trillion in a bid to contain the region’s debt crisis. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. advanced more than 3 percent in early New York trading. Alcoa Inc. and Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. climbed with metal prices. Dow Chemical Co. rallied 2.3 percent after posting earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December jumped 2.1 percent to 1,263.5 at 7:25 a.m. in New York before the Commerce Department reports third-quarter gross domestic product growth at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures surged 212 points, or 1.8 percent, to 12,014. “My first reaction is thumbs up; it looks like it is a big enough number to alleviate some of the fears in the market,” said Andreas Nigg, who helps oversee about $43 billion as head of North American equities at Vontobel Asset Management in Zurich. “For now it’s good, but is it ultimately going to solve all of the issues? I don’t think so.” After the close of U.S. trading, Euro-area leaders increased the size of their rescue fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) and persuaded bondholders to take 50 percent losses on Greek debt, responding to pressures to contain the financial crisis that has put Greece on the brink of a default, threatening the global economy. Greek Bondholder Losses Last-ditch talks with bank representatives led to the debt- relief accord, in an effort to quarantine Greece and prevent speculation against Italy and France from ravaging the euro area. The measures include recapitalization of European banks, a potentially bigger role for the International Monetary Fund and a commitment from Italy to do more to reduce its debt. U.S. stocks yesterday rebounded from the biggest selloff in three weeks as Europe’s leaders gathered for their second debt- crisis summit in four days in Brussels. The S&P 500 is headed for its biggest monthly advance since 1991. The gauge has risen from the threshold of a bear market in early October, as Europe took steps to contain its crisis and companies reported earnings that beat estimates. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Colgate-Palmolive Co. are among 62 companies in the S&P 500 that are scheduled to report results today. “There is a lot of money on the sidelines and -- with markets starting to go up -- I think there might actually be some pressure for some investors to get back in,” said Vontobel’s Nigg in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s hard for me to tell if this is just some short covering or real new demand. I would be a bit careful to declare a victory just yet.” Bank of America Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, rallied 5.9 percent to $6.98 in New York. Citigroup, the third biggest, gained 3.7 percent to $32.31 in New York, while Wells Fargo & Co. increased 2.9 percent to $26.50. Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rose 2 percent yesterday. Alcoa paced a rally in commodity producers as base metals climbed following the European debt accord. The largest U.S. aluminum producer climbed 3.3 percent to $10.70 in New York and Freeport, the world’s biggest publicly traded copper producer, advanced 5.1 percent to $41.30. Dow Chemical rallied 2.3 percent to $27.50 in New York after the largest U.S. chemical maker reported a 51 percent jump in third-quarter profit to $900 million on higher sales at its agriculture and chlorine businesses. Visa Shares Surge Visa Inc. posted a 14 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit to $880 million, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as credit-card spending climbed faster than debit. The shares slid 0.6 percent to $91.50 in Germany. A report today may show the world’s largest economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace this year, driven by consumer spending and business investment. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.5 percent annual pace after advancing 1.3 percent in the previous three months, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net

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