Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Monday ahead of data on activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector and appearances from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials and as investors looked ahead to a busy week in earnings.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 75 points, or 0.42%, by 6:50AM ET (10:50GMT), the S&P 500 futures rose 10 points, or 0.46%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 29 points, or 0.61%.
In company news, AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) confirmed over the weekend that it agreed to buy Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) for $85.4 billion in a move to create a telecom-media giant in what would be the largest acquisition this year.
Also in M&A activity, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:AMTD), the biggest discount brokerage by trade executions, said on Monday that it would buy Scottrade Financial Services in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4 billion.
On Monday, Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Sonic Corp (NASDAQ:SONC), VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) and T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS) will be among a slew of S&P 500 companies that will report numbers in what will be a busy week worldwide for the earnings season.
Three of the world’s four biggest companies by market value, including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) on Tuesday after the market close, are due to announce results this week in the U.S., along with four of China’s largest listed banks reporting and updates are also coming from more than 350 components of Japan’s Topix index.
In the U.S., 80% of the 116 S&P 500 companies that had reported as of last Friday had beat profit estimates on 8.1% growth, according to The Earnings Scout. That compared to 70% in the second quarter.
On the economic front, investors looked ahead to Markit’s preliminary manufacturing PMI for October which is due at 9:45AM ET (13:45GMT).
Meanwhile, the dollar traded flat against other major currencies on Monday, as sustained expectations for a 2016 U.S. rate hike continued to lend broad support to the greenback.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, inched down 0.04% at 98.58, just off a fresh eight-month peak of 98.82 hit overnight.
Markets were pricing in the chance of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in December at 69.2%, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
That was ahead of a slew of appearances by officials throughout Monday’s that will include New York Fed chief William Dudley, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, Chicago Fed president Charles Evans or Fed governor Jerome Powell.
Meanwhile, oil was under pressure on Monday as Iraqi oil minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said Baghdad wants to be exempt from any production cut the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is aiming to achieve.
OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo noted that there are signs that the market rebalance is underway with demand at healthy levels though the supply overhang remained a concern.
He noted that Russia’s cooperation in addressing challenges was crucial ahead of meeting scheduled in Vienna on October 28 and 29.
Russian oil minister Alexander Novak indicated that cooperation with OPEC was intensifying and that an output freeze or cut was the correct decision.
U.S. crude futures fell 0.47% to $50.61 by 6:55AM ET (10:55AM GMT), while Brent oil lost 0.17% to $51.69.