U.S. futures rise ahead of data; Dow Jones up 0.38%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. economic reports, amid hopes that Spain will soon request a sovereign bailout.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.38% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.50% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.66% gain.

Sentiment improved after official data over the weekend showed that China's trade surplus widened in September as export demand increased, easing concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.

But investors remained cautious as Madrid did not request financial aid over the weekend and a request for a bailout is now seen as increasingly unlikely ahead of regional elections on October 21.

Financial stocks were expected to be active, as Citigroup was to announce results later in the day, following Friday's earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, which sparked concerns over shrinking profit margins for big lenders despite both reporting stronger-than-expected profits.

In the tech sector, Sprint saw shares jump 2.62% in pre-market trade on reports Japan's Softbank reached a deal to buy 70% of the U.S. mobile carrier for USD20.1 billion in the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Japanese company.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com was said to be in advanced talks to buy the mobile chip business of Texas Instruments, sending the latter's shares up 1.50% in early trading.

Apple was also likely to move higher, with shares climbing 0.54% pre-market, even as SNS Securities said the company could improve its iPhone maps function in a deal with TomTom. TomTom signed an agreement with the iPhone maker in June to supply maps information.

Separately, Apple appealed a Tokyo District Court ruling that Samsung Electronics didn't infringe the iPhone maker's patents.

Advanced Micro Devices also gained ground in early trading, as shares surged 2.19%, despite reports the company plans to cut as many as 2,340 jobs, or about 20% of its workforce.

Last week, the firm said that third-quarter sales will decline about 10% from the prior period, a bigger drop than previously forecast.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.13%, France’s CAC 40 surged 1.33%, Germany's DAX rallied 0.79%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.53%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up 0.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.51%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales, as well as a report on business inventories.