U.S. futures higher but E.Z. concerns persist; Dow Jones up 0.42%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as markets eyed preliminary U.S. gross domestic product figures and remained cautious amid sustained debt concerns in the euro zone after a Spanish bond sale. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.42%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.60% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% increase.

Spain’s Treasury sold EUR2.98 billion in three and six-month bonds in an auction which saw yields rise to 5.2% for the six-month bills, from 3.3% at a similar auction in October.

It was the first Spanish debt auction since the conservative party's sweeping
election victory on Sunday, but investors have remained jittery as plans on how to cut the deficit and restore market confidence have remained unclear.

Meanwhile, after ratings agency Fitch said that the failure of a U.S. congressional committee to agree on a package of measures to slash the country’s deficit was likely to lead to a revision of the U.S. rating outlook to “negative”, rather than a downgrade.

On the upside, technology company Nvidia surged 5.03%, as well as Internet service provider Comcast, with shares advancing 0.42%.

Meanwhile, Netflix saw shares tumble 4.72% after saying late Monday that it raised USD400 million in capital by selling convertible debt to long-time backer Technology Crossover Ventures and stock to funds managed by T. Rowe Price.

The financial sector was also sharply lower, led by Bank of America with shares plunging 5.02% after U.S. regulators informed the bank’s board that the company could face public enforcement action if they are not satisfied with recent steps taken to strengthen the bank.

Shares in Citigroup plummeted 4.87% and JPMorgan tumbled 2.32%, while Goldman Sachs declined 0.66%.

Elsewhere, Lockheed Martin saw shares slump 0.81% after winning a U.S. air force contract potentially worth USD7.4 billion for upgrades to its problem-plagued F-22 Raptor fighter jet, designed to be the premier U.S. combat plane.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 0.80%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.90%, Germany's DAX surged 1.03%, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.79%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shed 0.4%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on third quarter GDP, and the U.S. Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its November policy meeting, later Tuesday.