U.S. stock futures stronger after Wednesday's turn-around - MarketWatch

U.S. stock futures stronger after Wednesday's turn-around - MarketWatch

U.S. stock futures point to further gains

Big swings on Wednesday; Nokia reports 44% profit rise

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) - U.S. stock futures swung higher on Thursday, with earnings from Nokia and Lockheed Martin as well as continued bond insurance bailout hopes helping to offset a $7.1 billion trading fraud uncovered by French bank Societe Generale and eBay's soft earnings outlook.

After early losses, S&P 500 futures rose 6.1 points to 1,347.60 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 11 points to 1,818.50. Dow industrial futures rose 50 points.

U.S. stocks stormed higher on Wednesday after huge early losses, with the Dow industrials finishing 298 points higher in a session in which it at one point dropped 326 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose 24 points and the S&P 500 rose 28 points.

A combination of speculation of a bond insurer bailout, technical buying and hopes for further interest-rate cuts helped fuel the rally.

International stock markets responded, with the German DAX 30 up nearly 6% on Thursday and the Nikkei 225 rising 2.1% in Tokyo.

There were a number of earnings reports to consider. Nokia (NOK:

NOK

, , ) , the world's biggest mobile phone maker, rallied to 23.40 euros ($33.92) in Helsinki after it reported a stronger-than-forecast 44% profit rise. See story.

Lockheed Martin (LMT:

LMT

, , ) reported a 10% profit and upped its earnings outlook for the year.

Ford Motor Co. (F:

F

, , ) sliced its fourth-quarter loss roughly in half, to $2.8 billion.

Societe Generale revealed how a single trader was able to dupe France's second-largest bank into losses of $7.1 billion with his knowledge of bank control procedures. The bank separately reported a $3 billion subprime-related write-down. See SocGen story.

Shares in eBay (EBAY:

EBAY

, , ) dropped 8% in pre-open trade after the online auctioneering firm revenue and earnings outlook missed Wall Street expectations.

"Organic revenue growth of 11% to 14% is much slower than the 21% in fiscal 2001 and is below the 18% consensus," said Laura Martin, an analyst at Media Metrics, in a note to clients.

Crude-oil futures rose $1.39 to $88.38 a barrel ahead of weekly inventory data, due out 10:30 a.m. Eastern.

Existing-home sales figures for December and weekly jobless claims data also is on tap.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, down 0.1% to 106.53 yen. Gold futures rose $19 an ounce.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.