Stock Futures Higher after Greek Vote. Stocks to Watch: AAPL, BIDU, BAC, ABX, BA, CSCO, NWSA

Published on Monday, 13 February 2012 07:44 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 13^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a higher open, joining a global advance, after the Greek Parliament voted in favor of unpopular austerity measures that moved the country a step closer to access the much needed bailout funds.

In Asia, most stocks gained after Greece’s parliament approved new harsh austerity measures that put the country closer to meet conditions to access the much-needed bailout funds to avoid a disorderly default. In Japan, the Nikkei advanced 0.6% as investors shrugged off a greater than expected contraction in its fourth quarter GDP. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid, as new yuan loans missed expectations.

In Europe, equity markets were trading higher after the Greek vote to approve the austerity package. The measures are highly unpopular, which prompted violent demonstrations and looting in the country, nevertheless the country desperately needs access to the funds in order to avoid a messy default on its debt. Gains however were being capped as Greece must still find further cuts of 325 million and provide binding assurances of the plan implementation in order to access the funds.

The euro was climbing 0.38% against the Dollar, trading above the $1.32 level. Crude oil was gaining 0.95% to $99.61 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was tumbling 2.58%, trading at $2.41 per MMBtu. Gold was adding 0.25% to $1729.7 an ounce and silver was gaining 0.61% to $33.81 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was advancing 0.58%.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), and News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was jumping 1.21% to $499.40 in pre-market, as participants continue to push the stock higher towards the $500 per share psychological level. The stock was trading above its all-time high of $496.75 that was posted last week, when it gained more than 7% amid speculation of the launch of the iPad 3 as early as March and over the Apple TV set and its impact on the bottom line. Analysts also helped the gains by bumping estimates and target prices, like Needham raising its target price to $620 from $520 and Canaccord Genuity bumping its target price to $665 from $650. This morning strength comes on reports that Apple was expanding the number of patent claims against Samsung, launching a new legal attack. The technology giant has asked a Federal Court in California to block Samsung from selling its new Galaxy Nexus smartphones in the U.S. The suit alleges that the Galaxy Nexus infringes patents on underlying functionalities that customers expect from the iPhone, like the ability to unlock phones by sliding an image and to search information using voice commands. Both Apple and Samsung are waging a global war on patents with numerous suits around the world that cite their tablets and smartphones.

Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU), the largest Chinese Internet search engine, was jumping 2.72% to 140.30 in pre-market amid a risk on trade and after Brean Murray raised its target price on the stock to $200, saying that it expected the company to report earnings above expectations later this week, largely driven by continued ARPU expansion from its large advertisers. The firm also expects upside guidance for the quarter. On average analysts expect a profit of $0.91 per share on revenues of $700.33 million.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was jumping 2.11% to $8.24 in pre-market, trading at its highest level since last August, following upside momentum from Europe after Greece approved the austerity measures package. The stock was indicating higher after climbing close to 3% last week, as the stock also broke above the $8 per share level and closed above its 200day moving average. The gains came despite the landmark $26 billion settlement on foreclosure abuses, in which BofA will bear $11.8 billion of the cost of the settlement. The deal appears to have helped the Charlotte, NC based bank in eliminating an uncertainty and as the company had already made reserves for the settlement.

Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), the Gold miner based in Toronto, Canada, was climbing 0.62% to $48.45 in pre-market, amid an increase in gold prices and on reports that the company is looking to sell 20% stake in Highland Gold.

Boeing (NYSE: BA), the world’s second largest commercial aircraft maker, will be in focus in the session after the company said that the latest glitch in its 787 Dreamiliner won’t slow its production as it’s a problem that will take days to fix and not weeks, as it has already identified the problem and have started repairs. According to Boeing, it remains on track to boost its output to 10 aircraft per month by the end of the year. The company also said ahead of Singapore’s air show that it was considering introducing a stretched version of its Dreamliner, allowing for 320 passengers.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), the networking giant, will be in focus following a drop of about 1% in the prior week despite a better than expected earnings report. Barron’s had a bullish article over the weekend, which speculated that the stock continues to be dragged down by low expectations. Barron’s said that despite the big expense reductions and upbeat quarter, investors do not provide shares any respect. It expects that with market share growing and new line of products, Cisco could surprise to the upside once more. Cisco has calculated resistance at $20.49 and support at $17.62.

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA), the media company owner of the Fox News Channel and the Wall Street Journal, will be in focus after over the weekend arrests of the Sun tabloid journalists in the U.K. over allegations of bribery, in which reporters gave money to policy and prison officers in order to gain access to information and the voicemail of a murdered victim. Nevertheless, the arrests might put the company in hot water in the U.S. under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which hold U.S. companies accountable for bribery or corruption abroad.