The gained after Bank of America Corp. earnings reports

U.S. stock-index futures gained after Bank of America Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. reported earnings that topped analysts' forecasts.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, rose after posting 5.2 percent profit growth. IBM, the world's biggest provider of computer services, climbed after saying software acquisitions boosted results.

Financial firms and technology companies comprise more than a third of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's value. Today's Bank of America results and a profit gain at Washington Mutual Inc. helped ease concern that banks' growing losses from mortgage loans would hurt profits.

``Everything's in favor of stocks at the moment,'' said Guenther Gerstenberger, a fund manager at Oberursel, Germany- based PEH Wertpapier AG, which oversees about $5.5 billion. ``We don't expect big earnings disappointments. So far companies' profits have been in line.''

S&P 500 index futures expiring in September rose 7.4 to 1562.2 as of 8:59 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 67 to 14,070. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 12.25 to 2072.

Stocks also got a lift from a government report that showed an unexpected decline in initial jobless claims, a sign the labor market remains resilient.

Bank Earnings

Bank of America gained 14 cents to $49.50. Second-quarter net income climbed to $1.28 a share from $1.19 a year earlier as revenue from bank charges and credit-card fees helped counter higher borrowing costs and bad loans. Profit beat the $1.20 average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Washington Mutual added $1.39 to $43 after saying net income advanced to 92 cents a share from 79 cents as mortgage losses narrowed and the bank said it would stop making some of the riskiest home loans. The average profit estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 89 cents.

IBM gained $3.37 to $114.45. Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge predicted yesterday that earnings per share will rise 14 percent to 15 percent this year, compared with a May estimate of 13 percent to 14 percent. Excluding some costs, second-quarter profit was $1.50 a share, compared with an average estimate of $1.47.

Motorola Inc. rose 1 cent to $18.01. Before some items the mobile-phone maker company earned 2 cents a share in the second quarter, beating the 1-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Juniper, Citrix

Juniper Networks Inc. gained $2.47 to $29.20. The world's second-biggest maker of equipment for directing Internet traffic reported second-quarter net income of $86.2 million as new products boosted sales. Sales rose 17 percent to $664.9 million, topping the $648.3 million average estimate of 17 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Citrix Systems Inc. rose $4.15 to $39.45. The maker of computer-networking software forecast revenue of $1.34 billion to $1.36 billion for this year. That topped the average estimate of $1.32 billion by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

The companies that merged to form Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world's largest custodian of investor assets, reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates for the second quarter, the last before the transaction closed. The shares lost 18 cents to $45.95 in Germany before the report was released.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares added 12 cents to $48.16. The world's biggest retailer said it plans to more than double its stores in China in the next five years to tap the growing personal wealth of the country's 1.3 billion people. Wal-Mart expects the growth to help it garner 20 percent of China's retail market, said Terrence Cullen, vice president of its China operations.

Economy Watch

First-time claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week by 8,000 to 301,000, the lowest in two months, the Labor Department said. Economists expected initial claims would rise to 311,000, according to a Bloomberg survey.

A report from the Conference Board today may show its index of leading U.S. economic indicators fell 0.1 percent in June after rising 0.3 percent in May as building permits dropped and more workers applied for jobless benefits, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 58 economists.