Stock Futures Pointed Higher

07:38 AM Eastern Standard Time, 02/09/2010 (MidnightTrader) — Stock futures are higher, an indication that the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s drop below the key 10,000 line in the previous session is in fact, luring some buyers back into what’s been a choppy market over several sessions.

At last check, the S&P 500 futures rose 7 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures are up 12 points and DJIA futures rose 50 points. Asia and Europe gained.

Stocks fell Monday for the third time in four days. Part of the pressure on equities derived from Wall Street Journal report that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin laying the groundwork for credit tightening later in the year. Ongoing worries over the debt health of some European nations also weighed.

News that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving a summit in Sydney a day earlier than planned helped to lift the euro and European equities on Tuesday, MarketWatch reported.

A spokesman for the ECB said Trichet was always planning to attend a summit of European leaders scheduled for Thursday, but the market interpreted Trichet’s departure as increasing the chances for a European bailout package later this week, the MarketWatch report said.

As for individual pre-market movers:

Electronic Arts (ERTS) is down nearly 8% in continued negative reaction to its evening earnings. The company beat with Q3 earnings but offered several quarters and FY guidance that’s mostly below the Street view.

Cell Therapeutics CTIC) is off to a robust start after the company announced the FDA informed them that due to severe weather conditions in the Washington, D.C. area, the FDA is postponing the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting that was to be held on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 to discuss the pixantrone New Drug Application. The FDA indicated that it intends to reschedule the meeting as soon as the FDA can determine a schedule that will allow them to reconvene the advisory panel.