(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures climbed on Monday after Lowe's Cos., the nation's second biggest home improvement chain, reported earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.
At 8:26 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures rose 6.60 points to 889.60. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 56 points to 8323. Nasdaq Composite Index futures increased 11.75 points to 1366.
Early on Monday,
Lowe's Cos. (
NYSE: LOW) said that its net income plunged 22% to $476 million, or 32 cents a share, from $607 million, or 41 cents a share, in the prior year quarter. Revenue slipped 2% to $11.83 billion.
AIG (
NYSE: AIG) is planning to list its Asian subsidiary through an IPO that could raise more than $4 billion, as the ailing U.S. insurer seeks to repay billions in government bailout funding.
Investors are keenly waiting for housing data due for release tomorrow. Home improvement retailer
Home Depot (
NYSE: HD) is also scheduled to report quarterly results tomorrow.
State Street Corp. (
NYSE: STT) on Monday announced that it expects to raise proceeds of about $1.5 billion and issue senior notes in order to exit the TARP Capital Purchase Program.
Late on Friday,
Dillard's, Inc. (
NYSE: DDS) reported that net income for the first quarter increased to $7.7 million or 10 cents a share from $2.7 million or 4 cents a share, in the year ago quarter. Revenue fell to $1.47 billion from $1.67 billion.
In a regulatory filing on Friday,
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (
NYSE: BRK-A) said that it has increased stake in such companies as
Wells Fargo & Co. (
NYSE: WFC) by more than 12 million shares; and in
Johnson & Johnson Inc. (
NYSE: JNJ) by nearly 4 million shares.
Last week, Dow was down 305.91 points or 3.57%. S&P retreated 46.35 points or 4.89%, while Nasdaq Composite settled with a weekly loss of 58.86 points or 3.38%.
European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:00 pm London time, the UK FTSE gained 57.30 points or 1.32% to 4,405.41. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.92% and 0.73% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 slumped 226.33 points or 2.44% to 9,038.69. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 232.21 points or 1.38% to 17,022.91.
Elsewhere, India's benchmark Sensex index surged over 17% amid optimism over the Congress Party's definitive victory in national elections.
NYMEX Crude oil for June delivery climbed as much as as 95 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $57.29 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
