Stock futures were modestly positive in a quiet Monday session as Asian markets rose overnight on general economic optimism.
As of 7 a.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 19 points, or 0.16%, to 10397, the S&P 500 futures rose 2.3 points to 1108.30 and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 5.75 points to 1825.00.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped more than 2.7% while Hong Kong rose more than 2.4% as investors took the day to digest further the Federal Reserve's decision to raise its so-called discount rate by 0.25 percentage points while indicating it would leave its main interest rate low for some time.
European markets were mixed, with shares of pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK: 38.28, 0, 0%) falling nearly 2% after a report in The New York Times said its diabetes medication Avandia is linked to heart failure, according to a report the newspaper obtained from the Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile Schlumberger (SLB: 63.88, 0, 0%) and its rival Smith International (SI: 88.31, 0, 0%) agreed to Schlumberger's purchase of its competitor for $11.4 billion in an all-stock deal. The transaction values Smith shares at $45.84, according to the terms of the deal, a sharp premium to Smith's Friday closing price of $37.70 a share.
Earnings season continues today with earnings results from home improvement giant Lowe's (LOW: 23.11, 0, 0%). Home Depot's rival reported a profit of 14 cents a share, a penny ahead of expectations, according to Thomson Reuters, sending its shares up slightly in the pre-market session.
Home Depot (HD: 30.14, 0, 0%) will report its results tomorrow morning.
In the commodity markets, oil was up 0.2% to $79.96 a barrel while gold was mostly flat at $1,122.50 a troy ounce.
On Friday, the Dow rose 9.45 points, or 0.09%, to 10402.35, the Standard & Poor's 500 added 2.42 points, or 0.22%, to 1109.17 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 2.16 points, or 0.1%, to 2243.87. The FOX 50 fell 0.63 points, or 0.08%, to 801.80.
