Stock Futures Falter on Greek Debt Fears

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a slightly lower open as negotiations with Greece to secure a second bailout package for the country dragged on.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were falling 9 points, or 27.1 points below fair value, at 12,767. Futures for the

S&P 500

were down 2.1 points, or 3.7 points below fair value, at 1337, and futures for the

Nasdaq

were off 5.5 points, or 5.5 points below fair value, at 2520.

Stocks finished lower Monday as investors remained cautious about Greece's debt situation.

Stock futures were sliding again Tuesday as Greece's talks with international lenders on the terms of securing a second bailout package for the country continued unabated. Greek leaders have been speaking with officials from the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and European Commission -- known as the troika -- to discuss the details of tough austerity measures that the country and political leaders need to agree to in order to receive a crucial € 130 billion ($171 billion) bailout that would prevent it from plunging into a messy default, as its March 20 deadline for a € 14.5 billion ($19.1 billion) bond repayment rapidly approaches. The austerity measures would include wage and pension reductions.

Already, Greek workers were staging a 24-hour strike to protest against the austerity measures, which could result in the loss of jobs for roughly 15,000 civil service employees who once thought they had their jobs set for life. The party leaders backing the country's coalition government who need to agree on the measures remain in a bind ahead of the soon-to-come expected general elections.

"Unfortunately the negotiations are so tough that as soon as one chapter closes another opens," Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos had told

Reuters

the previous day after a meeting with the troika. A messy Greek default would seriously impact both banks across Europe and private creditors holding Greek debt.

On a brighter note, Greece was able to carry out a successful Treasury auction Tuesday. Borrowing costs came out a bit lower than those from the previous sale.

London's FTSE was falling 0.49%, and Germany's DAX was slumping 0.88%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Average closed down 0.13%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished lower by 0.05%.

In corporate news,

Coca-Cola

(KO) - Get Report

reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter Tuesday as the international beverage giant continued to expand international sales volume. The world's largest soft-drinks maker reported earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $11.04 billion as the company increased volume to China by 10% in the fourth quarter. The company was expected to earn 77 cents a share on revenue of $10.99 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Coca-Cola shares were rising 0.7% to $68.50 in premarket trading Tuesday.

BP

(BP) - Get Report

, the oil giant, said fourth-quarter profit rose 38% to $7.69 billion on higher oil prices and it raised its quarterly dividend by 14%. Replacement cost profit jumped 65% to $7.6 billion. Revenue rose 15% to $96.3 billion. BP goes to court at the end of the month in New Orleans for the beginning of lawsuits related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010.

"As I have said before, we are prepared to settle if we can do so on fair and reasonable terms, but equally, if this is not possible, we are preparing vigorously for trial," CEO Bob Dudley said. Shares were falling 1.8% to $46.05.

UBS

(UBS) - Get Report

, the Swiss bank, posted a 76% decrease in fourth-quarter earnings. UBS said profit in the quarter was 393 million Swiss francs ($425 million). Analysts were expecting earnings of 658 million francs. UBS' investing bank division reported a second consecutive quarterly pretax loss of 256 million francs, which included a $2 billion rogue trader loss. Shares were down 1.2% to $14.20.

Toyota

(TM) - Get Report

, Japan's top automaker, lifted its annual earnings forecast after reporting a quarterly profit decline of 13.5% because of production shortages from last year's earthquake and tsunami. Toyota raised its annual profit forecast to 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) from 180 billion yen a year earlier, but the new guidance is barely half of what Toyota earned -- 408 billion yen -- in the previous fiscal year. Cost cuts were behind the raised guidance, Toyota said. Shares were adding 2.4% to $79.59.

Yum! Brands

(YUM) - Get Report

, the quick-service restaurant operator, beat analysts' fourth-quarter earnings expectations on strong sales growth in China. Yum!, whose restaurant brands include KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, also said it expects to meet or exceed its target for earnings per share growth of at least 10% in 2012. Shares were gaining 2.6% to $64.80.

Coinstar

(CSTR) - Get Report

solidly topped analysts' views for fourth-quarter earnings and reached a deal to acquire

NCR's

(NCR) - Get Report

entertainment business, which includes DVD kiosks and inventory, among other assets. Earlier Monday, Coinstar announced a

streaming content joint venture

with

Verizon

(VZ) - Get Report

. Coinstar shares were surging 18.5% to $59.92, while NCR shares were jumping 8% to $20.55. Verizon was up 0.2% to $38.20.

March oil futures were down 64 cents to $96.27 a barrel, while April gold futures were falling $5.80 to $1,719.10 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was falling 4/32, raising the yield to 1.926%, while the U.S. dollar index was flat at $79.14.

No major U.S. economic announcements were expected on Tuesday.

-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.

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Andrea Tse

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