Stocks May Add To Recent Gains In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Monday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous week. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 31 points.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from financial giant Bank of America (BAC), which reported its second quarter results this morning.

Bank of America reported better than expected quarterly earnings and revenues, joining Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in beating expectations.

The earnings season will continue to pick up steam as the week progresses, with a slew of big-name companies due to report their quarterly results.

IBM (IBM), Netflix (NFLX), and Yahoo! (YHOO) are among the companies scheduled to release their results after the close of today's trading.

Goldman Sachs (GS), Microsoft (MSFT), American Express (AXP), Intel (INTC), and General Electric (GE) are also among the companies due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Home Builders is scheduled to release its report on homebuilder confidence in the month of July.

Economists expect the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index to inch up to 61 in July after rising by two points to 60 in June.

Housing data may continue to attract attention later this week, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on housing starts and existing home sales.

After failing to sustain an initial upward move, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Friday. The major averages spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat.

While the Dow inched up 10.14 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 18,516.55, the Nasdaq edged down 4.47 points or 0.1 percent to 5,029.59 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.01 points or 0.1 percent to 2,161.74.

Despite the lackluster performance on the day, the major averages moved sharply higher for the week. The Dow surged up by 2 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both jumped by 1.5 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, although the Japanese market was closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has climbed by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are sliding $0.61 to $45.34 a barrel after advancing $0.54 or 1.2 percent to $45.95 a barrel in the week ended July 15th. Gold futures, which fell $31 or 2.3 percent to $1,327.40 an ounce last week, are rising $1.20 to $1,328.60 an ounce.

Among currencies, the U.S. dollar rallied against the Japanese yen last week, jumping 4.3 percent to 104.88 yen. The greenback also inched up 0.1 percent against the euro to $1.1035 a euro. The dollar is currently trading at 105.62 yen and is valued at $1.1051 versus the euro.