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Stock Futures Rise as U.S. Election Polls Open

Mike Taylor

Premarket futures were intimating a higher open for stocks in New York Tuesday, as traders heard some encouraging quarterly earnings reports and the polls opened for the U.S. presidential election.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 20 points at 989 and were 24 points ahead of fair value. Nasdaq futures were up 26 points at 1367 and were 30 points better than fair value.

On Monday, stocks closed narrowly mixed as traders looked ahead to election day and several economic data points dampened investor enthusiasm.

Following Monday's close, credit-card company MasterCard (MA Quote) took a net loss on charges related to its settlement of a legal scuffle with Discover Financial Services (DFS Quote). Excluding the charge, however, MasterCard's earnings trumped the Street's forecasts.

Energy company Anadarko Petroleum (APC Quote) reported that third-quarter profit climbed year over year and beat analyst estimates.

Farm products maker Archer Daniels Midland (ADM Quote) reported profit that more than doubled year over year.

Pharmacy operator Walgreen (WAG Quote) announced Tuesday that its October same-store sales climbed 2% year over year.

Media firm Viacom (VIA Quote) wasn't so fortunate, as its earnings dropped 37% year over year.

Ahead of the new day's trading, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Treasury Department is mulling taking equity positions in financial companies beyond banks and insurers. According to the report in the Journal, General Electric's (GE Quote) GE Capital segment and CIT Group (CIT Quote) are among businesses that may become eligible.

Elsewhere in the financials, Swiss bank UBS (UBS Quote) announced it swung to a profit for the third quarter. The profitable quarter follows four straight earnings periods marked by losses on writedowns tied to mortgage securities.

Looking at the day's economic data, the Census Bureau is set to release its look at September factory orders.

In the realm of commodities, crude oil was rising 90 cents to $64.81 a barrel. Gold was adding $18.10 to $744.90 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were declining in price. The 10-year was losing 4/32 to yield 3.93%, and the 30-year was lower by 15/32, yielding 4.35%. The dollar was rising vs. the yen but declining against the euro and pound.

Overseas, European exchanges, including the FTSE in London and the Dax in Frankfurt, were broadly trading higher. As for Asian stocks, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed higher.

(Photo gallery: Trading Faces)