US STOCKS-Futures up ahead of factory data, Fed minutes

* GM car sales in China jump 28.8 pct in 2010

* Futures up: Dow 48 pts, S&P 3.2 pts, Nasdaq 6.75 pts

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Adds quote, byline, defense sector, updates prices)

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday as optimism continued to permeate the market ahead of data on factory orders and car sales.

The climb in futures followed a rise in U.S. stock indexes on Monday on encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world that prompted investors to inject new money into equities.

Coming on the heels of recent data pointing to a growing economic recovery, investors will eye the Commerce Department's release of November factory orders at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), with economists expecting a drop of 0.1 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent fall in the prior month.

Monthly auto sales figures will also be closely watched. Fifteen economists surveyed by Reuters forecast December auto sales of about 12.3 million on the annualized and seasonally adjusted basis tracked by the industry.

"The bullish attitude is continuing and probably will continue as the data points to strong economic growth," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York.

S&P 500 futures rose 3.2 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 48 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 6.75 points.

Monday's rally that had the Dow and S&P reaching new two-year highs was accompanied by a rise in volume, with more than 7.7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, above the 50-day moving average. The volume increase may indicate the gains could extend into Tuesday.

Investors will look into Federal Open Market Committee minutes from the Dec. 14 meeting for clues on the U.S. central bank's outlook on the economy. The minutes are due at 2 p.m. EST. (1900 GMT)

European stocks were up more than 1 percent, with oil major BP Plc up 5.4 percent after Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported rival Royal Dutch Shell had considered a takeover bid during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Asian markets were also broadly higher. [.EU]

Mining stocks will be in focus as floods eased in Australia's major coal mining region, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle. For details, see [ID:nL3E7C407D].

Defense sector stocks will also be eyed, with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expected to detail about $100 billion in Pentagon savings and cuts to weapons programs as early as Thursday. The PHLX defense index <.DFX> hit a seven-month high on Monday. [ID:nN03185583]

General Motors Co said it sold 2.35 million vehicles in China in 2010, up 28.8 percent from a year earlier. GM shares were up 0.9 percent at $37.39 in premarket trading. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)