Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures rose, indicating the market may extend a three-week rally, as analysts raised price estimates or ratings on companies from Amazon.com Inc. to Huntington Bancshares Inc. and investors speculated the economy will withstand Europe’s debt crisis. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. advanced 1.4 percent as commodity prices gained. Amazon.com added 0.9 percent after Barclays Plc. boosted its share-price estimate for the largest online retailer. Huntington advanced 2.1 percent after Bank of America Corp. recommended buying the regional lender’s shares. S&P 500 futures expiring in March gained 0.4 percent to 1,243 as of 8:58 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 31 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,461. Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased 0.4 percent to 2,222.75. “The market has positive momentum,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, which oversees $342 billion. “If you wake up in the morning and there’s no negative news coming out of Europe, the market will have a positive bid to it. Earnings in the U.S. are strong and the economy will probably surprise positively.” U.S. equities have risen for three straight weeks, sending the S&P 500 to a two-year high, as stronger-than-estimated data on retail sales, manufacturing and housing boosted confidence in the economic recovery. The S&P 500 has rallied 12 percent this year as the Federal Reserve expanded a plan to buy bonds to stimulate the economy and corporate earnings beat estimates. European Stocks Stocks gained in Europe, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbing as much as 1.1 percent to its highest level since Sept. 12, 2008, as reports showed the global recovery is intact even. Commodity prices rallied, as gold advanced on demand for an alternative investment to the slumping euro. Copper rose for a second day. Freeport, the largest publicly-traded copper producer, climbed 1.4 percent to $115.26. U.S. Steel Corp. gained 1.1 percent to $59.53. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that U.S. gross domestic product will be stronger in 2011 than people thought. Bullard, who spoke in an interview with CNBC today, also said the decline in U.S. unemployment will be a slow process. “We have to walk before we can run here,” he said. Amazon.com rose 0.9 percent to $179.18. The largest online retailer had its share-price estimate raised to $195 from $180 at Barclays, which said the online holiday season has been strong and Amazon.com continues to gain share from both online and offline competitors. Huntington Huntington Bancshares added 2.1 percent to $6.36. The Columbus, Ohio-based bank was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Bank of America. Carnival Corp. rallied 1.9 percent to $43.30. The world’s biggest cruise-line operator was rated “overweight” in new coverage at HSBC Holdings Plc. Sara Lee Corp. slumped 3.2 percent to $16.70. The food company’s talks to sell itself to Brazilian meat processor JBS SA have hit a snag over price, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. Sara Lee recently rejected a takeover offer from JBS, deeming the price too low, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The bid was less than Sara Lee’s intraday high of $17.62 on Dec. 17, when the Wall Street Journal reported the companies were in talks, the people said. Spokesmen for Sara Lee and JBS declined to comment. --With assistance from Alexis Xydias in London. Editor: Michael P. Regan To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in Sao Paulo at rnazareth@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net.

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