Stock futures advances ahead of opening

   
 S&P 500 futures rose 7.6 points to 1,063.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 12.75 points to 1,747.20. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42 points.


U.S. stocks dropped Monday for the third time in four sessions, with the S&P 500 falling 0.9% and the Dow industrials falling over 1%. Investors weighed a report in The Wall Street Journal that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin laying the groundwork for credit tightening later in the year as well as continued worries about the health of Southern European government finances.

News that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving a summit in Sydney a day earlier than planned helped to lift the euro and European equities on Tuesday.


A spokesman for the ECB said Trichet was always planning to attend a summit of European leaders scheduled for Thursday, but the market interpreted Trichet's departure as increasing the chances for a bailout package later this week.                                                                       soure:Market watch