Stock futures climb ahead of opening

By STEPHEN BERNARD, AP Business Writer Stephen Bernard, Ap Business Writer – 25 mins ago

Stocks have been tumbling in recent weeks — the Dow Jones industrial average closed Monday below 10,000 for the first time in three months — on concerns that growing debt problems in places like Greece, Portugal and Spain will spread to larger countries and upend a global economic recovery.

Overseas markets were mixed.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 36, or 0.4 percent, to 9,931. Standard & Poor‘s 500 index futures rose 5.60, or 0.5 percent, to 1,061.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 12.50, or 0.7 percent, to 1,747.00.

The report is due out at 10 a.m. EST.

Companies replenishing inventories was the primary driver of economic growth during the fourth quarter, when the nation‘s gross domestic product rose at an annual pace of 5.7 percent. However, restocking inventories is not seen as a sustainable way to grow the economy.

Meanwhile, bond prices fell Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.58 percent from 3.57 percent late Monday.

Overseas, Japan‘s Nikkei stock average fell 0.2 percent and Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng rose 1.2 percent. Britain‘s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent, Germany‘s DAX index fell 0.1 percent, and France‘s CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent.

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