Stock Futures Waver on Greek Caution

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were pointing to a mixed open Wednesday as investors viewed reports about the possibility of a Greek debt deal with cautious optimism.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were up 11 points, or 15.8 points above fair value, at 12,842. Futures for the

S&P 500

were down 0.6 points, or 0.7 points above fair value, at 1344, and futures for the

Nasdaq

were up 2.3 points, or 2.1 points above fair value, at 2532.

Stocks closed higher Tuesday after Greek media reported that officials were close to signing an agreement that would help the country secure its next bailout.

On Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was scheduled to meet with coalition leaders to bring closure to an austerity package that would help the country secure a crucial €130 billion ($171 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. Separately, Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos have been in talks with the country's private creditors to take an up to 70% write-down on their Greek sovereign debt holdings, which also is needed to help Greece receive the bailout money. The representative of the private creditors, the International Institute of Finance, said negotiations have been productive.

A 50-page draft document of the austerity measures is now in the hands of the three parties backing the prime minister's transition government, after an agreement on the final details was reached between Papademos and the European Union, European Central Bank and IMF. The harsh proposals, which had triggered a nationwide strike -- 20,000 people took to the streets -- include a 20% reduction to minimum wages, cuts from monthly pensions of €360, and the elimination of 15,000 civil service jobs.

London's FTSE was rising 0.09%, and Germany's DAX was gaining 0.7%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Average settled up 1.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished higher by 1.54%.

In corporate news,

Sprint

(S) - Get Report

reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss Wednesday as subsidy costs rose amid high

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

iPhone demand. The telecommunications company reported losses ballooned to 43 cents a share from 31 cents a year earlier, as revenue grew to $8.72 billion. Analysts expected a loss of 37 cents a share on revenue of $8.69 billion in the fourth quarter.

Sprint, which has seen five-straight years of losses, sold 1.8 million iPhones for the October to December period. However, the wireless carrier and its rivals

AT&T

(T) - Get Report

and

Verizon

(VZ) - Get Report

sell each iPhone at a loss as they tie costumers into multi-year contracts. Meanwhile, iPhone sales helped the carrier boost subscribers by 3% to 55 million.

Sprint shares were down 0.4% to $2.44 in premarket trading Wednesday, while Apple share were up 0.3% to $470.30. AT&T was up 0.3% to $30.14 and Verizon was down 0.2% to $37.86.

Time Warner

(TWX)

reported better-than-expected quarterly results Wednesday as the final installment of its

Harry Potter

movie franchise boosted sales. The media giant reported earnings of 94 cents a share, beating forecasts of 87 cents by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Revenue grew by 5% to $8.2 billion. Analysts expected sales of $8.07 billion. The company also boosted its quarterly dividend by 11% to 26 cents a share.

Time Warner shares were adding 2.6% to $39.10.

Dow

component

Walt Disney

(DIS) - Get Report

posted below-consensus revenue in its fiscal first quarter Tuesday afternoon. The media and entertainment giant earned 80 cents a share on revenue of $10.78 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $11.18 billion.

Shares were off 0.2% to $40.88.

McDonald's

(MCD) - Get Report

reported better-than-expected same-store sales globally and in each regional segment in January. The world's largest restaurant chain said Wednesday global comparable sales grew 6.7% last month, while U.S. sales jumped 7.8%. Analysts had expected global sales to rise 5.9% for the month, with a 6.8% gain in the U.S. The fast-food chain also said European sales rose 4% last month as sales in Asia, the Middle East and Africa surged 7.3%.

McDonald's shares were rising 0.5% to $101.40.

Nokia

(NOK) - Get Report

, the world's biggest handset maker, said Wednesday it would slash 4,000 jobs in Finland, Mexico and Hungary as it struggles in a tough smartphone market. Nokia said it would move cellphone assembly to Asia from Europe where the majority of its component suppliers are based, a move designed to speed its products to the market.

Nokia shares were rising 0.8% to $5.17.

Yahoo!

(YHOO)

shares were gaining after news of an impending board of directors shake-up.

Chairman Roy Bostock, along with three other directors, will step down from the board, the company announced Tuesday

. In an open letter to shareholders, Bostock explained that he will not be standing for re-election at the firm's next shareholders meeting. Fellow directors Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson will also be stepping down, he added. The latest departures follow the resignation on Jan. 17 of Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!.

Yahoo shares were up 0.8% to $15.96.

March oil futures were adding $1.26 to $99.67 a barrel, while April gold futures were off $1.70 to $1,746.70 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was falling 6/32, raising the yield to 1.996%, while the U.S. dollar index was down 0.05% at $78.52.

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

-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Andrea Tse

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