U.S. stocks eye a 7th straight session of gains By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. futures markets were pointing to a continued win streak for Wall Street as 2009 draws to a close, albeit amid holiday-thinned volumes, with focus for Tuesday on a closely watched consumer sentiment index. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points to 10,499, while those for the S&P 500 gained 2.2 points to 1,125.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.25 points to 1,877.75. Monday's session, the first after the Christmas break, was marked by the highest close since October 1, 2008 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 10,547.08. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 2,291.08, while the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 1,127.78. "Into the lull between Christmas and the new year and [leading indexes] are all sitting above resistance levels and in potential 'new high' clean air," said Simon Denham, managing director at Capital Spreads. Markets set new highs for the year last Thursday. "It must be admitted, however, that there has been a limited reaction to all the indices finally breaking clear much of this might be a consequence of the time of year of the event but it must be admitted that buyers seem few and far between just now," he said. He added that with the Dow trading around 10,560, traders will be on the lookout for any attempt by the market to get back under the next support level at 10,520. Markets on Monday got a helping hand from retailers who rose on back of a report from MasterCard's SpendingPulse unit that showed improved retail spending over the holiday period. More indications of consumer sentiment will come later on Tuesday, with the Conference Board releasing its consumer confidence index for December at 10 a.m. Eastern. A survey of economists by MarketWatch is calling for the index to rise to 54.0 from 49.5 from November. That would keep the index in the narrow range it's been in since May with consumers still anxious about their finances and job prospects. Ahead of that, Case-Shiller home prices for October will be released at 9 a.m. ET. Financials could garner some attention on Tuesday. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski cut his fourth-earnings estimates for U.S. brokerages, citing trading deceleration starting in mid-November. His estimate on Goldman Sachs (GS 163.76, -0.21, -0.13%) was cut to $574 from $6.57, on Morgan Stanley (MS 29.29, -0.31, -1.05%) to 40 cents from 47 cents and on J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM 41.72, -0.17, -0.41%) to 68 cents from 71 cents. Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, reportedly plans to overhaul pay plans for top executives, deferring more of their compensation over time and benchmarking pay against rival firms, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The company also changed its bylaws to establish a standing risk committee and to provide for separate positions of chairman and chief executive. On another side of the pay front, J.P. Morgan (JPM 41.72, -0.17, -0.41%) reportedly may not go ahead with plans to build a new European headquarters in London owing to the one-off 50% tax on bonuses announced in the U.K. pre-budget statement earlier this month, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. In Europe, markets were on track for fresh 14-month highs, albeit also amid thin volumes. Rising metals prices lifted related stocks. In Asia, markets finished mixed, but Australia stocks finished at a two-month high. Gold prices were down $3.10 to 1,104.80 an ounce, while oil futures rose 18 cents at $78.95 a barrel. The euro was up 0.3% to $1.4417, and the dollar was virtually steady against the Japanese yen at 91.68. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, reached its highest in four months at 3.84% on Monday after the government's first of three auctions this week -- $44 billion in 2-year notes -- was met with lackluster demand. On Tuesday, the government will sell $42 billion in 5-year notes.

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