US stocks futeres rose as data showed than Black Friday 2011 had $11.40 billion in retail purchases and the biggest dollar amount ever spent during the day, according to ShopperTrak. Black Friday sales increased 6.6 percent over the same day last year.
Futures surged on rumors that the International Monetary Fund is preparing a 600-billion euro ($801 billion) loan for Italy in case the sovereign-debt crisis worsens, without saying where it got the information.
An IMF official today said the Washington-based lender is not in talks with Italy about a loan program.