(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures advanced on Monday ahead of the start of a busy week of earnings.
At 8:21 am ET, the S&P 500 futures climbed 5.80 points to 1073.90. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures gained 43 points to 9850. The Nasdaq Composite futures rose 9.75 points to 1735.25.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:
GS) on Monday raised its price target on Google stock to $585 from $560 on higher earnings estimates from 2009 to 2011.
Shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE:
OSK) rallied in pre-market trade after the Department of Defense awarded a $408.4 million contract for 923 additional blast-proof trucks.
Private equity firm Blackstone Group (NYSE:
BX) is planning to list up to eight of its companies it owns and sell at least five others, according to media reports.
Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel economics prize on Monday for their analyses on ethical corporate governance and natural resource management.
Early on Monday, Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ:
FAST) said that third-quarter net income tumbled 35% to $47.59 million, or 32 cents a share, from $72.9 million, or 49 cents a share in the prior year quarter. Revenue plunged 22% to $489.3 million from $625 million.
Investors focus this week will be companies' third-quarter earnings announcements and forecasts for the coming quarters. Major companies reporting this week include Dow Jones industrial average components such as chipmaker Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:
INTC), IBM Corp.(NYSE:
IBM), General Electric Co. (NYSE:
GE), JP Morgan (NYSE:
JPM) and healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:
JNJ). Internet giant Google Inc. (NASDAQ:
GOOG) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:
GS) are also reporting this week.
Dutch conglomerate Philips reported that its third quarter net profit climbed to EUR174 million from EUR57 million in the same period last year. Sales fell 11 percent to euro5.62 billion in the third quarter of 2009.
The U.S. dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, sending commodity prices higher.
On the economic front, no major data is scheduled for release on Monday.
US stocks finished with gains on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting new 2009 highs, after a rally in technology stocks lifted investor optimism.
European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:02 pm London time, the UK FTSE gained 62.45 points or 1.21% to 5,224.32. The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.54% and 1.37% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong dropped 6.54 or 0.03% to 21,499.44.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as $1.36 or 1.9% to $73.13 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
