US stock futures are pointing up following news of a $5 billion cash injection into Washington Mutual.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the mortgage lender is close to a deal to get a $5 billion injection from TPG and other investors — a deal not brokered by the government, as was the recent Bear Stearns bailout.

The deal seen by some analysts as a sign that the financial sector is starting to pull out of the credit crisis.