S&P futures rise, optimism on Geithner helps

NEW YORK (Reuters) - S&P 500 stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday as hopes for swift action from new Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner to prevent the recession from worsening offset fears of weak earnings.

In the morning's round of quarterly results DuPont Co reported a loss, hurt by a decline in demand, and trimmed its full-year 2009 forecast.

Shares of the chemical maker were off 1.4 percent to $22.85 in premarket trade.

Geithner won confirmation as Treasury secretary late on Monday and promised quick action to deal with the recession-hit U.S. economy.

"I get the general sense that people are hopeful about something more significant than what we've seen from (former Treasury Secretary Henry) Paulson," said Barry Ritholtz, chief market strategist at Fusion IQ in New York.

"You definitely got the sense there wasn't a full plan or strategy and people are hopeful that we'll actually have an intelligent plan instead of panic (and) careening from one concept to another."

S&P 500 futures rose 4.40 points 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 48 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 2.25 points.

Stocks ended higher on Monday, lifted by optimism over a $68 billion takeover in the drug industry that offset a grim warning about the year ahead from Caterpillar and worries over the state of the financial sector.

The broad S&P 500 is down more than 7 percent for the year so far, but it is up about 11 percent from the 11-year lows hit in late November. The S&P started the year up about 20 percent from those lows.

Texas Instruments reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit after the closing bell on Monday but said it may post a loss in the current quarter and is cutting jobs.

The earnings season so far has been a gloomy one, as expected, with companies warning of more pain to come and making deep job cuts in the wake of the global economic downturn.

On the economic front, the S&P Case/Shiller Hope Price Index is expected later in the day, while the Federal Reserve's monetary policy setting Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting on interest rates.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)