(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures edged higher on Tuesday as investors cheered the Treasury's move to provide $5 billion in rescue package to GMAC.
At 8:19 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March advanced 4.90 points to 875.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 37 points to 8525. Nasdaq Composite Index futures climbed 9 points to 1184.50.
The US government pledged $6 billion in support of struggling automaker General Motors's (NYSE: GM) finance arm GMAC. The Treasury said in a statement on Monday that it will purchase a $5 billion stake in GMAC and lend $1 billion to GM so that it can contribute to the lender's reorganization as a bank holding company. GMAC President Bill Muir said in a statement "The actions of the federal government to support GMAC are having an immediate and meaningful effect on our ability to provide credit to automotive customers. We will continue to employ responsible credit standards, but will be able to relax the constraints we put in place a few months ago due to the credit crisis." Earlier this month, Treasury agreed to extend a lifeline of $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler LLC. Shares of General Motors soared over 16% in Frankfurt. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) jumped over 12%.
Late on Monday, ratings agency Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW). On Sunday, Kuwait abandoned a deal to form a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with U.S. chemical giant.
According to reports, insurer Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will go ahead and close a $2.48 billion deal on Jan. 1 to buy back the 34% of Nationwide Financial Services Inc.(NYSE: NFS) that it doesn't currently own.
The world’s largest gas company OAO Gazprom (UK:OGZD) announced on Tuesday that its net profit for the six months ended June 30 rose 83% to 573.8 billion roubles ($19.4 billion) from 313.2 billion roubles. Net sales grew 52% to 1.74 trillion roubles.
According to International Air Transport Association international passenger traffic in November fell 4.6% from the same month a year ago.
Tracinda Corp., a private investment corporation owned by Kirk Kerkorian, announced late on Monday that has sold off all of his remaining shares of Ford Motor Co.
Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that U.S. banks and savings institutions are heading for their first overall quarterly loss since 1990.
According to Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun, government and central bank of world's second largest economy are mulling a $110 billion scheme to buy bad assets from banks.
On the front of economic data, Chicago purchasing management index for December s due for release for release at 9:45 am. Conference Board's index of consumer confidence for the month of December is scheduled to release at 10:00 am.
European markets advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:10 pm London time, the U.K. FTSE gained 41.096 points or 0.97% to 4,361.31. The German DAX and French CAC added 1.89% and 1.30% respectively.
Asian stocks settled mixed. The Nikkei 225 advanced 112.39 points or 1.28% to close at 8,859.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 92.98 points or 0.65% to 14,235.50.
NYMEX Crude Oil for March delivery declined 94 cents, or 2.4%, to $39.08 a barrel on Tuesday.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
