NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock index futures held gains on Tuesday after data showed U.S. home prices fell more than expected in November.

Futures were trading higher on signs of progress in dealing with Europe's long-running sovereign debt crisis.

S&P 500 futures rose 5.8 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 46 points and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11 points.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

NEW YORK – Treasurys rose Monday as the stock market sank due to worries about debt woes in Washington and Europe.

Bond prices rose after the Dow Jones industrial average fell as many as 342 points. It ended down 249.

Stocks fell after a congressional panel appeared ready to declare failure in its mission to cut the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion. Moody’s also said it might downgrade France’s credit rating.

Strong demand at an auction for two-year Treasury notes also sent bond prices higher. The Treasury department sold $35 billion of the notes at yield of 0.28 percent.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.97 percent. It was 2.01 percent late Friday. The price of the note rose 43.8 cents per $100 invested.

The yield on the 30-year bond fell to 2.95 percent. Its price rose 87.5 cents per $100 invested. The yield on the two-year note was 0.27 percent.

The three-month T-bill paid a yield of 0.01 percent. Its discount wasn’t available.

Treasury prices fell Friday after a series of strong corporate earnings reports set off a rally in the stock market.

Treasurys fell as several big U.S. companies reported strong third-quarter results. McDonald’s Corp., Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Harman International Industries Inc. were among the companies that beat analysts’ expectations.

Traders also appeared more optimistic that European leaders would make progress at meetings this weekend and next week toward resolving the Greek debt crisis. Stock markets in Europe and the U.S. rose sharply.

Traders sold Treasurys, pushing their prices lower and their yields higher. The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 22 cents per $100 invested in late trading. It yield rose to 2.22 percent from 2.18 percent late Thursday.

The price of the 30-year bond fell $1.03, pushing its yield up to 3.27 percent from 3.20 percent.

The yield on the two-year Treasury note rose to 0.28 percent from 0.26 percent.

The three-month T-bill paid a yield of 0.01 percent, down from 0.02 percent late Thursday. Its discount wasn’t available.

LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks climbed further out of their August hole on Monday, lifted by signs of earlier-than-expected recovery in Japan and a growing belief that shares may now be cheap.

European shares, however, failed to keep early gains and dropped into negative territory.

Gold and the Swiss franc, two of the main beneficiaries of recent global risk aversion, fell.

Investors were also weighing calls by Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti for a more coordinated response to the euro zone debt crisis, including the creation of euro bonds, against an immediate rejection of the idea from Germany.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index, a broad measure of global equity health, was up half a percent, ratcheting up roughly a six percent gain since hitting an 11-month low last Thursday.

“The markets have been technically very oversold and on that basis alone, they are due for a period of remission from the selling,” said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at wealth manager Brewin Dolphin.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said a “buy” signal had been triggered last week as outflows out of risky assets hit significant levels.

“We note that since 2004, global equities have rallied an average 6.7 percent (in the four weeks that followed the trigger),” the bank’s strategists wrote in a note.

Nonetheless, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index was slightly lower.

Shares in Asia were boosted by data showing Japan’s economy shrank less than expected in April-June following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.

Japan’s Nikkei closed up 1.37 percent.

SPILL OVER

The albeit tentative rise in confidence spilled into other assets.

The euro extended its gains against the Swiss franc to more than 3 percent after a Swiss newspaper report said the Swiss National Bank was poised to set a limit for the euro-Swiss franc exchange rate and will use all means to defend it.

The dollar also rallied against the franc, surging 2.7 percent to 0.79883.

Otherwise the U.S. currency was down around a quarter of a percent against a basket of major currencies.

On the euro zone crisis front, Tremonti’s call for common euro zone debt issuance was rejected by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said such euro bonds would undermine the basis for the single currency by weakening fiscal discipline among member states.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are due to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

Core euro zone debt was mixed with yields rising on longer-term bonds.

(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash and Blaise Robinson; Editing by Toby Chopra)

NEW YORK (AFP) – World oil prices rose Tuesday, rebounding from an initial sell-off as fears of the European debt crisis abated and oil traders took their cue from rising stock markets.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, gained $2.28 to close at $97.43 a barrel, making a strong bounce after it dropped as low as $93.55 in early trading.

In London, on the IntercontinentalExchange, Brent North Sea oil for August delivery climbed 51 cents to close at $117.75 a barrel.

Prices initially fell on worries that Europe’s debt crisis was spreading to Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy, threatening broader financial turmoil that could lower European energy demand.

But they rebounded on market rumors that the European Central Bank was buying the bonds of distressed European governments, said Bart Melek, an analyst with TD Securities.

“We went from terrible to okay. There (was) a lot of selling earlier in the day on this issue of potential problems on the Italian bond market,” Melek said.

Yields on Italian and Spanish government debt have surged in recent days, shaking confidence in the eurozone’s finances.

Oil prices also jumped immediately after the US Federal Reserve released minutes indicating that it planned only a gradual easing of its ultra-loose monetary policy.

Another boost came after OPEC forecast steady demand growth for oil next year.

Demand for oil this year would be 88.18 million barrels per day, rising to 89.50 million barrels in 2012, OPEC said.

But the oil export cartel commented: “An unsteady world economy is negatively affecting the oil market and imposing a high range of uncertainty for the short term.”

HONG KONG – Italian fashion house Prada is selling shares near the low end of the price range in its planned IPO, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Friday, as investors flee slumping stock markets and worry about paying Italian taxes.

The company is selling shares at 39.50 Hong Kong dollars, according to the source, who was not allowed to speak officially and declined to be identified.

The company said Sunday that the shares in the initial public offering would be priced from HK$36.50 to HK$48. Prada is selling 423.3 million shares, so it would raise HK$16.7 billion ($2.1 billion), although that’s less than the HK$20.3 billion ($2.6 billion) it could have raised if it was able to price the shares at the top of the range.

Foreign companies have been flocking to Hong Kong to go public in hopes of profiting from China’s strong economy. They also want to raise brand awareness with China’s rapidly growing number of consumers.

But a recent slump in global stock markets, driven by fears about the world economy and Europe’s debt crisis, is putting investors off stocks.

In Prada’s case, Hong Kong retail investors, who play a big part in IPOs, may also be turned off by the possibility they’ll have to pay Italian taxes. The Milan-based company warns in its prospectus that shareholders face Italian capital gains tax of 12.5 percent on any profits from selling their shares as well as up to 27 percent withholding tax on dividends.

That’s an unusual situation in Hong Kong, which does not tax capital gains or dividends. The city, a special administrative region of China, has very low taxes compared with other wealthy countries.

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks are edging higher, a day after the latest developments in Europe’s debt debacle sent stocks down around the world.

Oil is rising above $99 per barrel after Goldman Sachs raised its forecast. Energy stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.8 percent, the most of any of the ten industry groups on the index.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 20 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,400 in early trading. The S&P 500 is up 4, or 0.3 percent, at 1,320. The Nasdaq composite is up 2, or 0.3, at 2,761.

The modest advance came despite more troubling news about Europe’s debt crisis. Greece’s main opposition party said it opposed the government’s new austerity measures. The news dashed hopes that the country might be able to repair its finances enough to get another loan package from the International Monetary Fund.

Ratings agency Moody’s warned that a restructuring of Greece’s debt would be considered a default and would hurt the credit ratings of Greece and other debt-laden European countries. Moody’s also said it would review 14 British financial institutions for a possible downgrade.

Nonetheless, European stocks recovered Tuesday after Monday’s declines.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares rose 0.4 percent in midday trading. Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 0.2 percent higher. The euro also rose slightly against the dollar after falling to a two-month low Monday.

The Commerce Department is expected to report at 10 a.m. on how many new homes were bought in April. Analysts expect sales to be roughly flat.

New homes are unappealing to budget-conscious families because their median price is nearly 31 percent higher than previously-occupied homes. That’s twice the price difference typical of a healthy economy. At their current rate, new-home sales are on track to experience a sixth straight year of declines.

LONDON (AFP) – World oil prices slumped on Thursday before firming in volatile trade, as the market was hit by a cocktail of weak energy demand and rising supplies, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for June, dived as low as $95.25 a barrel — a level last seen on February 23. It later firmed to stand at $97.72, down 49 cents compared with Wednesday’s close.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June dipped five cents to $112.52 a barrel in late London trading. Despite recent falls, prices remain at high levels.

“The fall in oil price has been prompted by the ‘triple whammy’ of poor Chinese economic data, falling global stocks and the IEA energy demand downgrade,” said Emma Pinnock, an market analyst at energy consultants Inenco.

The market had already plunged on Wednesday due to signs of faltering energy demand in the United States and China, which are the world’s top oil-consuming nations.

On Thursday, the International Energy Agency cut its outlook for 2011 global oil demand growth by 190,000 barrels per day because of high prices and unexpectedly weak recovery in rich countries.

“Investor sentiment has been hurt by weaker oil demand from China, a large unexpected build in (US) crude oil stocks and the (demand) downgrade from the IEA,” said Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden brokers.

“In addition, there are global inflation concerns that could threaten the global economic recovery and oil demand prospects,” she added.

The IEA said it had trimmed its 2011 forecast for global oil demand growth owing to “persistent high prices and weaker IMF GDP projections for advanced economies”. It put total demand at 89.2 million barrels per day.

Oil futures also faced renewed selling pressure after the US Department of Energy’s latest weekly report on energy reserves Wednesday showing another increase in crude stockpiles and an unexpected rise in gasoline reserves.

The rises were a sign of softer demand in the world’s largest oil-consuming nation.

There were also concerns over oil demand in China, the biggest energy consumer. China’s central bank on Thursday said it would raise the amount of money that lenders must keep in reserve to reduce liquidity as official concerns persist over inflation and rising housing costs.

The People’s Bank of China said it would raise its reserve requirement ratio by 0.50 percentage points, effective May 18 — the fifth such hike this year.

Thursday’s drop in oil prices, along with falls in the value of other commodities such as metals, weighed on global share prices.

BANGKOK – Modest gains on Wall Street, stabilizing oil prices and improving economic data from France helped lift world markets higher Friday.

Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel as the U.S. dollar weakened, making commodities such as crude less expensive for investors with other currencies.

Shares in Europe turned higher as France reported its economic growth accelerated in the first quarter thanks to higher consumer spending and corporate investment. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.8 percent to 5,989.78 and Germany’s DAX added 0.8 percent to 7,500.77. France’s CAC-40 rose 0.9 percent to 4,059.29.

Wall Street was also poised to go higher, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 24 points to 12,696 and S&P 500 futures nearly three points higher to 1,350.40.

Trading in Asia was lackluster, however. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7 percent to close at 9,648.77 as the country’s currency posted midday gains against the dollar before dropping, posing yet another concern to earthquake-embattled exporters. Toshiba Corp. lost 2 percent, while Sony Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. both lost 1 percent.

Elpida Memory Inc., a major maker of microchips, tumbled 3.6 percent a day after reports said the company’s net profit plummeted 32 percent in fiscal 2010.

Nissan Motor Co. was up 3.5 percent after announcing it had returned to profit in the fourth quarter, although uncertainties remain due to the damage from the mammoth March 11 earthquake and tsunami that have disrupted production for Japanese automakers.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed course and closed with a 0.9 percent gain to 23,276.27. Energy companies enjoyed a boost as oil prices began to rise. PetroChina Co. Ltd., the publicly traded unit of China’s biggest oil and gas company, rose 0.4 percent after slipping earlier in the day.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 percent to 4,711.40, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1 percent to 2,120.08. Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines were also lower.

“There’s really no good news out there that is a catalyst for buying,” said Tom Kaan, head of equity sales for Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong. Thursday’s turnaround on Wall Street represented bargain-hunting and people “trying to buy on the bottom side.”

Mainland Chinese shares advanced, shrugging off yet another central bank increase in the reserve requirement for banks — the fifth such increase in 2011. That move came after the government announced inflation was at 5.3 percent in April, with food prices surging 11.5 percent.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1 percent to 2,871.03, while the Shenzhen Composite Index of China’s smaller, second exchange added 0.5 percent to 1,201.37.

“The reserve ratio requirement increases have not had much impact,” said Peng Yunliang, a Shanghai-based analyst.

On Wall Street on Thursday, a small recovery in commodities and safe-haven buying of companies that make consumer staples like toilet paper and pasta helped reverse a decline to end the day with modest gains.

Consumer staples and health care led the market due in part to concerns that high gas prices will erode consumer spending and cut into corporate earnings. Companies that sell everyday items or provide health-related products and services are less dependent on economic growth for their profits since people typically spend money on such items even if they cut back elsewhere.

On the down side, the Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 434,000, slightly less than what economists expected. That report contributed to early losses in the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 percent to close at 12,695.92. The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,348.65. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6 percent to 2,863.04.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $1.01 to $99.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 76 cents to settle at $98.97 on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro strengthened to $1.4325 from $1.4231 late Thursday. The dollar slipped to 80.47 yen. The greenback fetched 80.91 yen in New York on Thursday.

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AP researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai.