Stocks are higher this morning as equities rebound from a pullback last week.
S&P 500 futures rose by about three-tenths a percent, while most European indexes are up by one-third to two-thirds of a percent. Asia was mixed in the overnight session, though Japan's Nikkei surged almost 3 percent, continuing its blistering rally.
Stocks fell in the United States last week amid signs that the labor market is slowing, causing the S&P 500 to test its 30-day moving average for the first time since March 1. It then worked its way higher for most of Friday's session. The index has been paused near its previous all-time highs from 2007, while other key benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Russell 2000 small-cap index have broken out to record levels.
Attention now turns to corporate results as Alcoa kicks off the start of earnings season this afternoon. While the number of releases per day won't hit full stride until later this month, there will likely be several pre-announcements in coming days. This week also brings retail numbers, with same-store sales on Thursday and government data Friday.
Commodities and foreign exchange are painting a bullish picture. Oil and copper are up by about 1 percent, agricultural foodstuffs are higher, and precious metals are posting small gains.
Currencies associated with risk appetite including the euro, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar are higher while the Japanese yen is down across the board.
In company-specific news, oil-service provider Lufkin Industries is up about 37 percent after accepting a $3.3 billion purchase by General Electric.
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