Futures Rise on Gains Overseas

NEW YORK -- U.S. stock futures are sharply higher, buoyed by broad gains in overseas markets that were fueled by fresh signs the global economy is on the mend and solid reports from European banks.

In other signs of investors' growing confidence, safe-haven assets like Treasuries and the U.S. dollar are falling, while oil and other commodities prices are rising.

Barclays (BCS Quote) said its first-half net profit increased 10% on stronger earnings from its investment banking division. Still, losses from bad loans rose as consumers in both the U.S. and Britain had trouble repaying debt.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., health insurer Humana (HUM Quote) said its second-quarter profit rose 34% on higher premiums.

The gains in futures come on the heels of the market's best July in 20 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 725 points, or 8.6%, last month as more and more economic and corporate earnings reports suggested investors' bets on an improving economy are well-founded. It was the best month for the blue chips since October 2002 and the best July since 1989.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow futures rose 95, or 1%, to 9221. S&P 500 index futures are up 11.10, or 1.1%, to 995.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 23, or 1.4%, to 1625.

Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.1%, while Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.04%. In late morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.7%, Germany's DAX index rose 1.8%, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.5%.