By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening just higher Monday, adding to Friday’s record highs in the wake of the strong October jobs report and the passage of the much-debated infrastructure bill.
At 8:15 AM ET (1215 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 75 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 3 points, or 0.1%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures were largely flat.
The three major indices each closed at record highs Friday, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining over 200 points, or 0.6%, the broad-based S&P 500 gaining 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite adding 0.2%.
These gains followed the official employment report showing nonfarm payrolls increased by 531,000 jobs last month, more than the 450,000 expected and above the revised 312,000 in September, indicating that the country’s economic recovery was regaining momentum early in the fourth quarter.
Additionally, the U.S. House of Representatives late Friday passed the long-delayed $1 trillion infrastructure bill, likely creating a number of jobs modernizing roads and bridges and modernizing the transportation system.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 10:30 AM ET (1530 GMT). His comments will be studied carefully given the U.S. central bank's move to start tapering bond purchases last week, and ahead of the latest CPI numbers which are expected to hit fresh multi-year highs. The CPI rose 5.4% on the year in October, equalling a 30-year high.
In the corporate sector, Coty (NYSE:COTY) leads off a much quieter early earnings roster, while PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) and International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) report after the closing bell.
Elsewhere, Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and United States Steel (NYSE:X) are among the companies likely to get an earnings boost from the passage of the infrastructure package.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock slumped as investors prepared for CEO Elon Musk's proposed sale of 10% of his stake in the electric car maker in the wake of his Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) poll.
Crude prices rose Monday after Saudi Aramco (SE:2222) late Friday raised the official selling price for its crude, indicating that it continues to see strong demand despite elevated price levels.
Attention this week turns back to the U.S., and in particular the release of the monthly survey by the Energy Information Administration, as well as ongoing chatter about potential sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
By 8:15 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.4% higher at $82.39 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.2% to $83.73.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,817.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1576.