BEFORE THE BELL: US Stock Futures Hold Gains After Ford, Honeywell

By Polya Lesova U.S. stock futures held their gains in the wake of two big earnings reports, from Honeywell and Ford. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were last up 30 points to 10297, while those for the S&P 500 rose 4 points to 1091.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 rose 8 points to 1860.75. Ford Motor Co. (F) said second-quarter net income rose 13%, with numbers beating forecasts on profit and sales. Honeywell International Inc. (HON) reported second-quarter earnings per share steady at 60 cents. Markets are also awaiting the results of the European bank stress tests due later. The Dow rallied 201.77 points, or 2%, on Thursday, posting its biggest point and percentage gain in over two weeks. Traders received positive economic news from Europe for a second day. The German Ifo index posted an unexpectedly large jump in July, confirming the strong recovery in Europe's biggest economy. The business-climate index rose to 106.2 in July from a reading of 101.8 in June, the Munich-based Ifo Institute reported. Also boosting sentiment, Britain's gross domestic product grew by a much stronger-than-expected 1.1% in the second quarter, government data showed. Economists had forecast a quarterly rise of 0.6%. The British pound rose 1% to $1.5415 following the data and the euro gained 0.3% to $1.2938. No major U.S. economic data are scheduled for release on Friday. McDonald's Corp. (MCD) is scheduled to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell. The Stoxx Europe 600 index edged up 0.2% in midday trading, as investors awaited the results from the European bank-stress tests, which will be released starting at noon Eastern time. "Overall, the transparency bar has been lowered and markets will now more likely gloss over vague details about how the stress tests were constructed," Deutsche Bank strategists wrote in a note to clients. "So our best guess is that these results kick the can further down the road without fully putting the matter to bed." Shares of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB) edged up 0.2%, while France's BNP Paribas (BNPQY, BNP.FR) fell 0.6% and Credit Agricole (ACA.FR, CRARY) dropped 0.7%. Spanish banking giant Banco Santander (STD) gained 1%. Shares of Vodafone Group (VOD.LN, VOD, VODPF) gained 0.8% in London after the company reported a 5% improvement in quarterly sales and announced it will pay 1.25 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) to settle outstanding tax issues in the U.K. In Sweden, shares of L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC, ERIC-B.SK) tumbled 5.6% after its second-quarter net profit fell short of market expectations and sales declined 8% because of supply issues and component shortages. Shares of oil giant BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) fell 0.7%. Tropical Storm Bonnie, which is projected to track into the Gulf of Mexico, has forced the firm to temporarily suspend its relief-well activities in the region. In the commodity markets, September crude-oil futures fell 23 cents to $79.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures posted small gains to trade at $1,198.30 an ounce. -By Polya Lesova; 49 69 29725517; AskNewswires@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 07:37 ET (11:37 GMT)