July 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose after better-than-expected profit and sales from International Business Machines Corp. lifted optimism about corporate earnings.

``We're going to see some nice earnings growth rates,'' said Olgerd Eichler, a fund manager at Union Investment GmbH in Frankfurt, which oversees $150 billion. ``It looks like the outlook for tech stocks has improved.'' Eichler said he is ``slightly positive'' on the technology sector.

Nasdaq-100 Index futures expiring in September advanced 4.5 to 1586.5 as of 10:40 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures gained 1.7 to 1228.2. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 26 to 10,643.

Thirty-four S&P 500 companies are due to report quarterly results today, including Intel Corp., whose chips run 80 percent of the world's personal computers, and Yahoo! Inc., the most- visited Internet site. Four out of every five of the 71 S&P 500 companies that reported earnings through yesterday either met or beat expectations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 U.S. automaker, and Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's second-biggest securities firm by market value, are also due to post earnings. About 150 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report results this week.

IBM shares advanced $3.25 to $85.06 in Germany after the company said second-quarter earnings excluding some items was $1.12 a share, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $1.03. While revenue fell to $22.3 billion, it was more than the average estimate of $21.9 billion from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Worst Performer

Shares of Armonk, New York-based IBM have fallen 17 percent this year, making it the worst performer in the Dow average.

``We'll continue to have positive surprises in the technology area,'' said Klaus Hagedorn, who manages $873 million at Metzler Investment GmbH in Frankfurt, including IBM shares.

Intel is expected to say second-quarter profit rose 15 percent, marking its best second quarter in five years, after an increase in demand for chips from laptop makers, based on the average of 35 estimates surveyed by Thomson Financial. The company is due to report after the close of markets. The shares added 19 cents to $28.42 in Germany.

Yahoo Earnings

Yahoo will probably say second-quarter profit jumped 70 percent, helped by more advertising on Web pages such as Yahoo Music. The shares rose 44 cents to $37.02 in Germany.

The company may say profit increased to $190.7 million, or 13 cents a share, from $112.5 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, the average estimate of 31 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The company is due to report results after the market close.

Yesterday, benchmarks fell as lower-than-expected earnings from Citigroup Inc., the nation's largest financial-services company, weighed on financial shares and pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 Index below a four-year high.

``Financials probably have the potential to come in below expectations,'' said Hagedorn, who has his ``strongest underweight'' in the sector.

Ford is expected to report a second-quarter profit of 33 cents a share, down from 61 cents a year earlier, before some gains and losses. The company reports before markets open. The shares fell 10 cents to $10.83.

Merrill Lynch Stagnation

Merrill Lynch may say that quarterly profit stagnated because of added costs for hiring traders, salespeople and brokers. Merrill probably will report that second-quarter net income was little changed at $1.08 billion, or $1.08 a share, according to the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Merrill's profit fell the previous three quarters. Revenue probably rose 9 percent to $5.8 billion.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest maker of medical devices, dropped 16 cents to $64.40. The company is expected to report a second-quarter profit of 91 cents a share, up from 82 cents a year earlier.

Separately, German health regulators, concerned about possible side effects of Johnson & Johnson's pain-killer patch Duragesic, will conduct their own analysis of reports linking the drug to 120 U.S. patient deaths, Handelsblatt reported, citing an unnamed government health official.

Hewlett-Packard Co. added 2 cents to $24.94 in Germany. The world's largest maker of printers may eliminate positions in Germany as part of Chief Executive Officer's Mark Hurd's effort to reduce costs and make the company more competitive, Handelsblatt reported.

A government report today may show U.S. home construction increased in June for a third straight month, evidence that housing will continue to help drive the expansion, economists said. Builders broke ground on 2.05 million residential units at an annual rate last month, according to the median estimate of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after 2.009 million in May. Starts rose in February to 2.228 million, a 21-year high.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 had its first decline in eight days, falling 6.79 at 1221.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65.84 to 10,574.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 11.91 to 2144.87. Each of the benchmarks lost 0.6 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Frankfurt at Cfournier3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 19, 2005 05:43 EDT