Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the long Easter weekend, stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 28 points.

The upward momentum for the markets comes on the heels of the pullback seen last week, which halted a five-week winning streak.

Buying interest may be generated by the release of a Commerce Department report showing a slightly bigger than expected increase in personal income in the month of February.

The report said personal income rose by 0.2 percent in February after climbing by 0.5 percent in January. Economists had expected income to tick up by 0.1 percent.

The Commerce Department also said personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in February, matching the downwardly revised uptick seen in the previous month.

The slight increase in spending matched economist estimates, although spending in January was downwardly revised from the originally reported 0.5 percent growth.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of February.

Pending home sales are expected to climb by about 1.5 percent in February after unexpectedly slumping by 2.5 percent in January.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Nonetheless, overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to more closely watched data due in the coming days, including the monthly jobs report due on Friday.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who is scheduled to deliver a speech on Tuesday to the Economic Club of New York.

Recent remarks by Fed officials have increased speculation that the Fed could raise interest rates at its next meeting in April.

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels before ending the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

While the S&P 500 edged down 0.77 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,035.94, the Dow crept up 13.14 points or 0.1 percent to 17,515.73 and the Nasdaq inched up 4.64 points or 0.1 percent to 4,773.50.

For the holiday-shortened week, the major averages all moved moderately lower, ending a five-week winning streak. The S&P 500 slid by 0.7 percent, while the Dow and the Nasdaq both fell by 0.5 percent.

In overseas trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent during trading on Monday, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.7 percent. Many of the major Asia-Pacific markets were closed for holidays.

Meanwhile, all of the major European markets are closed on the day for Easter Monday holidays.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.44 to $39.90 a barrel after tumbling about 4 percent to $39.46 a barrel in the week ended March 24th. Meanwhile, gold futures, which slumped $32.70 or 2.6 percent to $1,221.60 an ounce last week, are sliding $2.10 to $1,219.50 an ounce.

Among currencies, the U.S. dollar advanced against most currencies in the previous week. The buck rallied 1.5 percent against the yen to 113.08 yen and climbed 0.9 percent against the euro to $1.1167. The dollar is currently trading at 113.31 yen and is worth $1.1176 versus the euro.