Bargain hunting and auto bailout hope lift stock futures

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors followed Monday's market tumble with a search for beaten-down shares, and hopes for an auto industry bailout helped temper concerns over the deepening recession.

A day after Wall Street suffered its worst slide since early October, shares of General Motors rose 11.1 percent to $5.10 before the bell, while Ford climbed 6.3 percent to $2.71.

Executives of the big-three U.S. automakers, including Chrysler, are due to maker another plea for a $25 billion bailout before Congress later on Tuesday as fears about possible bankruptcy persist. Shares also rebounding before the opening bell included Citigroup and Bank of America , which were top casualties in Monday's slide.

"What you are likely to see is a snap-back rally after yesterday's big sell-off," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey.

"There's a little hope about the automakers and that's helping the situation this morning. The $25 billion will be a small price to pay to stave off a potentially gloomier outcome."

S&P 500 futures were 20.9 points higher and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures climbed 174 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 25.50 points.

But even with a likely bounce, investors were likely to tread cautiously due to growing signs of the global downturn.

The United States entered a recession in December 2007, an expert panel which is the arbiter of U.S. business cycles declared on Monday.

Goldman Sachs is also among stocks to watch after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Wall Street firm, which recently won a nod to become a bank holding company, was likely to post a net loss of as much as $2 billion for the fourth quarter.

Quarterly results from retailer Sears Holdings Corp offered yet more evidence of the squeeze that consumers face as they grapple with mounting job losses, sliding home values and a rocky stock market.

Sears posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and its sales missed Wall Street's forecasts. It said it would close additional stores.

The lobbying for the auto sector bailout will be accompanied by the release of November U.S. auto sales reports, which would likely show further deterioration.

Monday's slide broke the S&P 500's 5-day streak of gains and put the market just a whisker away from retesting 11-year lows.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy remained under considerable strain.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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