Stock Futures Climb Ahead of Consumer Data

U.S. stock futures pointed to a solid open on Wall Street on Monday as investors waited for confidence and consumer-spending data, while Apple Inc. rose after it reached a deal with China Mobile. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 54 points, or 0.3%, to 16235, while those for the S&P 500 index picked up 7.60 points, or 0.4%, to 1822.10. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 25.25 points, or 0.7%, to 3557.50. The futures gains came after the Dow Average and S&P 500 index allied to record levels Friday, after a government report showed the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in two years in the third quarter. In other positive news, the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the country's economic growth is picking up and that it is poised to accelerate as the business climate sees more certainty in 2014. Adding to that sense of certainty is a budget deal reached by Congress and clear communication from the Federal Reserve about its plan to wind down its bond-buying program, Lagarde said. More data out on Monday could provide further evidence that the economy is improving. At 8:30 a.m. EST, November figures on personal income and consumer spending are due out, with both releases expected to show a pickup from October. At 9:55 a.m. EST, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index is due, expected to show an improvement to 82.9 in December from 82.5 in November. In the corporate sector, shares of Apple jumped 3.1% premarket after the tech company Sunday confirmed it has reached a deal with China Mobile for the mobile provider to officially carry the iPhone. China Mobile will start selling the iPhone 5s and 5c starting on Jan. 17, with pre-orders starting this Wednesday. Facebook Inc. rose 0.4% ahead of the open, when it will begin trading as part of the S&P 500 index for the first time. Shares added more than 3% last week and have more than doubled since the start of the year. Also on the move, BlackBerry Ltd. picked up 0.4% premarket. Shares rallied 13% on Friday in heavy volume, after the company announced a five-year manufacturing deal with Foxconn. In other financial markets, Asia indexes closed mostly higher, while European stocks were on the rise. Both metals prices and oil prices were on the decline, and the dollar was slightly lower.