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Stocks ready to rebound

Stocks ready to rebound
U.S. markets poised to open higher as investors gingerly step back in after last week’s selloff.
August 13 2007: 7:32 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. stocks are likely to open higher Monday after credit fears caused global markets to swoon last week.

At 7:28 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were off their highs, but still pointing to gains at the start of trading.

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Christine Romans reports on the mortgage market concerns that are roiling the credit and stock markets and what it means
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Growing alarm over tightening credit sent Wall Street in a tailspin at the end of last week, and overseas markets followed in step. But some calm appears to have returned after central banks injected money into cash markets last week.

In Asia, markets rose, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index up 0.2 percent (correct). Major European markets also advanced in morning trading.

Troubles in the credit market, initially triggered by bad home loans given to borrowers with weak credit, have sparked a liquidity crunch worldwide and roiled stock markets.

In response to the deteriorating conditions in the credit markets, the Federal Reserve pumped about $62 billion into the U.S. banking system last week. The European Central Bank said Monday it would inject money into the euro zone banking system for a third day. The Bank of Japan also has been adding funds into its banking system.

Homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises (Charts, Fortune 500) said Monday it expects to take a charge in its third quarter due to sluggish demand a weak pricing in certain segments of the housing market.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group (Charts) reported its first set of quarterly results since going public in June. The company’s profit and revenue tripled from the year-earlier period. Blackstone posted net income of $774.4 million on revenue of $975.3 million for the quarter ended in June .

While the results were solid, Blackstone acknowledged that market conditions for its business have become tougher recently.

“Concerns over weakness in the U.S. housing market and sub-prime mortgage market, coupled with a large volume of debt financing backlog related to leveraged equity transactions, served to create more challenging financing conditions starting in the last week of the quarter, which continue to date,” the company said in a statement.

Economic reports on tap include July retail sales, due at 8:30 a.m. ET. A report on June business inventories will be released after the markets open.

Treasury prices rose as investors continued to seek safety. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 4.79 percent, from 4.80 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices gained, with U.S. light crude for September delivery adding 68 cents to $72.15 a barrel in electronic trading.

The dollar gained against the euro and slipped versus the yen.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the Nikkei index as being lower on the day. CNNMoney.com regrets the error.