Stocks Set to Open Higher on Bank Infusion

Updated from 6:59 a.m. EDT

Premarket futures were indicating stocks on Wall Street would continue their rally Tuesday, as the Treasury Department outlined a plan to invest some $250 billion in U.S. banks, with $125 billion earmarked for the nine largest.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 39 points to 1055 and were 48 points ahead of fair value. Nasdaq futures were better by 35 points at 1494 and were 54 points above fair value.

On Monday, stocks snapped back from their eight-session October losing streak with massive gains. The Dow registered its largest-ever one-day point gain, rising 936 points, or 11%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each jumped nearly 12%. The large gains came as central banks around the world collaborated on plans to inject capital into the global financial system.

Ahead of the new session, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said his agency would dedicate $250 billion of the $700 billion bailout package to buying equity positions in U.S. banks.

The government would buy preferred shares in Goldman Sachs (GS Quote), Morgan Stanley (MS Quote), JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) , Bank of America (BAC Quote), Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) , Citigroup (C Quote), Wells Fargo (WFC Quote), Bank of New York Mellon (BK Quote) and State Street (STT Quote), the Journal reported.

Speaking in Washington Tuesday morning, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that he dislikes government ownership in U.S. financial firms but that the equity investment will help unfreeze liquidity markets and alleviate the crisis.

Action in the money markets suggested the international relief effort may have been gaining traction against the credit crunch. Bloomberg reported that three-month dollar Libor, a measure of the rate banks charge one another for large loans, declined 12 basis points to 4.64%. The overnight rate lost 29 basis points to 2.18%.