Investing.com – Wall Street bounced back on a light calendar Monday after having registered its worst week since February as market participants waited for the unofficial kickoff to the U.S. earnings season and oil jumped ahead of a long awaited April 17 meeting of major oil producers.
At 15:29GMT or 11:29AM ET, the Dow Jones rose 64 points, or 0.36%, while the S&P 500 gained 7 points, or 0.33%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite traded up 22 points, or 0.45%.
In a session bereft of U.S. economic data, Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) will unofficially kick off the earnings season stateside with its report after the market close. Wall Street analysts are expecting a third straight quarter of declines in both earnings and revenue, given weakness in aluminum prices.
On a broader basis, U.S. first quarter earnings per share are forecast to decline 7.9% year on year, the third quarterly profit fall in a row. The energy sector, expected to have its first quarterly loss in at least 10 years, will be the biggest drag.
In currency markets, the dollar dropped to eight-month lows against the other major currencies in subdued trade on Monday, as the Federal Reserve’s persistently cautious stance on rate hikes continued to weigh on the greenback.
New York Fed president William Dudley did not comment on monetary policy or the economy in a speech to the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development's Annual Community Development Conference.
Dallas Fed chief Rob Kaplan will give remarks at 17:00GMT, or 13:00ET.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.37 % at 93.87, at 15:31GMT or 11:31AM ET.
Despite a lower move in early European trade, oil was trading up near the European close on Monday with the barrel of West Texas above $40, as investors continued their speculation over the possible outcome of the meeting of oil producers in Doha on April 17.
In what was likely to be the beginning of a slew of comments ahead of Sunday’s meeting, Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Monday that Russian oil production would be flat in 2017, after the expected increase in 2017.
Algerian energy minister Salah Khebri said the talks would aim to cap output but recognized that some oil producers would not do so.
U.S. crude futures gained 1.66% to $40.38 by 15:32GMT, or 11:32AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 2.07% to $42.81.
In company news, Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) rose 1.7% after the parent company of Britain's Daily Mail said it was in talks with potential partners to mount a bid for the company's Internet assets. The deadline for offers is April 18.
New York Attorney General Eric Sneiderman announced that it had reached a $5 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) over the firm’s actions leading up to the financial crisis.
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) fell close to 3% as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (TO:CP) announced it was throwing in the towel on its attempt to reach a merger deal.
Hatteras Financial Corp (NYSE:HTS) soared 10% after Annaly Capital Management offered to buy the mortgage real estate investment trust for $1.5 billion.