US stocks trading mixed early Monday with Dow, S&P higher, tech-heavy Nasdaq lower

Stocks have climbed to a series of records in recent weeks, bolstered by solid economic data and earnings reports from the biggest US companies.

U.S. equity futures are trading mixed early Monday after reaching fresh highs Friday and posting weekly gains after Labor Department data showed job growth rebounded in October following a summer slowdown.

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Stocks have climbed to a series of records in recent weeks, bolstered by solid economic data and earnings reports from the biggest U.S. companies.

Third-quarter earnings season continues this week, with 13 members of the S&P 500 reporting, including Dow component Walt Disney on Wednesday.

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Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.4% on Friday to a record for a seventh day after U.S. employers hired more people in October than expected.

The S&P 500 rose to 4,697.53 after the government reported the U.S. economy added 531,000 jobs last month, better than the consensus forecast of 450,000.

U.S. equity futures are searching for direction ahead of the Monday session on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% to 36,327.95, also hitting a new high. The Nasdaq composite added 0.2% to 15,971.59.

The U.S. government is due to report inflation this week. Investors are watching price rises amid fears stronger inflationary pressures might prompt the Federal Reserve and other central banks to pull back stimulus that is boosting stock prices.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were mostly lower Monday after China reported a double-digit rise in exports.

Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined while Shanghai advanced.

China's October exports rose 27.1% over a year earlier, though that eased off the previous month's 28.1% growth, customs data showed Sunday.

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Despite that gain, Chinese anti-virus controls might dampen factory and consumer activity, "still bringing about an uncertain recovery picture," Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.3% to 29,528.45 while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1% to 3,495.04. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.6% to 24,728.63.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.7% to 2,948.39 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 7,445.50.

India's Sensex opened down 0.3% at 59,903.04. New Zealand retreated while Southeast Asia markets rose.

Soldiers and police stand guard near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Chinese authorities are ring-fencing Beijing against growing Covid-19 outbreaks now permeating more than half the nation's provinces, seeking to protect (Gilles Sabrie/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Also this week, China's ruling Communist Party holds its sixth full leadership meeting of the latest five-year political cycle that runs through 2022.

The sixth plenum usually focuses on ideology and party affairs instead of the economy. However, investors also hope for possible updates on policy toward technology and other industries after data security and anti-monopoly crackdowns on Chinese tech giants that began late last year wiped more than $1 trillion off their total stock market values.

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In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 99 cents to $82.26 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $2.46 to $81.27 on Friday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, gained 90 cents to $83.65 per barrel in London. The previous session, it added $2.20 to $82.74.

The dollar gained to 113.58 yen from Friday's 113.40 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1564 from $1.1550.