US stocks open higher, rebounding from Friday's slump; Hasbro jumps on strong earnings

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, rebounding from a big slump on Friday. The gains were led by gains utilities companies as investors assessed the latest earnings reports. Hasbro was among the biggest gainers after the toy maker reported earnings that were better than analysts had been expecting.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 18 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,096 as to 10:02 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 217 points, or 1.2 percent, to 18,045. The Nasdaq composite climbed 40 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,973.

TOY STORY: Hasbro gained after reporting better-than-expected earnings as sales of Transformers and other toys climbed. The toy maker is battling a shift toward video gaming, but managed to boost sales of toys targeted at boys and pre-school children. The stock jumped $5.07, or 7.6 percent, to $70.90.

NO CRUISE: Royal Caribbean slumped $5.53, or 7 percent, to $73.51 after the cruise operator cut its full-year earnings outlook, citing the impact of a strengthening dollar and higher fuel costs.

EUROPE'S DAY: Germany's DAX rose 1.7 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.4 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.5 percent.

CHINA STIMULUS: China's central bank on Sunday cut the required reserve ratio for banks by 1 percentage point to stimulate lending as the country's economic growth slows. The lower reserve requirement allows banks to lend out more of their deposits. Official data showed last week that China's economy grew by 7 percent in the first quarter of the year, the lowest quarterly expansion since the 2008 financial crisis.

ASIA'S DAY: China's Shanghai Composite closed 1.6 percent lower after rising as much as about 1 percent in early trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2 percent to while South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 88 cents to $56.62 per barrel in New York. Brent crude rose 33 cents to $63.79 a barrel in London.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Government bond prices were flat. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 1.86 percent. In currency trading, the euro weakened to $1.0735 from $1.0805 on Friday. The dollar rose to 119.17 yen from 118.94 yen.