Stock Futures Climb; Factory Data in Focus

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U.S. stock-index futures climbed on Monday as traders eyed generally upbeat data from Europe and awaited a report on American factory orders.

Today's Markets

As of 8:07 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 48 points to 15590, S&P 500 futures gained 5.3 points to 1760 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 14.8 points to 3383.

The broad S&P 500 climbed for the fourth-straight week last week, and is up close to 24% for the year. The bullish sentiment continued through Monday as traders parsed through reports on the European manufacturing sector. The eurozone's factory sector, as a whole, expanded at the swiftest pace in 26 months, with new orders increasing for the fourth-straight month, according to a report by Markit.

"The eurozone manufacturing economy is undergoing its strongest growth period for two and a half years, since the mounting uncertainty caused by the escalating sovereign debt crisis hit Businesses hard in 2011," Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist said in the report.

"While it is in some respects disappointing that the PMI has failed to show a steeper pick up over the last two months, the recent growth revealed by the survey indicates a marked turnaround in the health of the manufacturing economy."

A report on U.S. factory orders from the Commerce Department is due out at 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the gauge to have risen by 0.3% in August after a drop of 2.4% in July.

In corporate news, Kellogg (NYSE:K) said it expects to slice 7% of its workforce by 2017.

Elsewhere, in commodities, U.S. crude oil prices fell 49 cents, or 0.52%, to $94.12 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline slid 0.77% to $2.526 a gallon. In metals, gold rose $6.50, or 0.49%, to $1,320 a troy ounce.