Investing.com - Wall Street stock futures pointed to a cautiously higher open on Monday as the second quarter kicked off and investors waiting for a reading on U.S. manufacturing activity.
The blue-chip Dow futures edged forward 10 points, or 0.05%, by 6:53AM ET (10:53GMT), the S&P 500 futures inched up less than a point, or 0.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 5 points, or 0.09%.
On the economic front, market players will focus Monday on the release of the ISM manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for March at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT), which will be simultaneously published along with February construction spending.
Signs of upbeat factory growth in Europe and Asia gave the global manufacturing sector a solid boost heading into the second quarter.
Euro zone factory growth hit nearly a six-year high in March according to the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released by ISH Markit on Monday.
Germany led the region in factory growth though France and Italy also saw stronger growth.
The U.K. was an exception that saw the activity unexpectedly slow in March.
A private survey on China's manufacturing on Saturday came in below market expectations but still showed a healthy expansion after a similar survey by the government on Friday pointed to strong growth in the sector.
Back stateside, the parade of appearances by Federal Reserve (Fed) officials will continue on Monday.
New York Fed chief William Dudley will give a discussion on financial conditions at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT).
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker speaks at 3:00PM ET (19:00GMT), while Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker is due to deliver comments at 9:00PM ET (1:00GMT on Tuesday).
Futures traders are pricing in around a 50% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Oil prices wavered between small gains and losses on Monday after reaching the strongest level in almost four weeks amid optimism that OPEC will extend its production-cut deal beyond June.
Crude rose around 5% last week, the biggest weekly rise in four months, bolstered by increasing optimism that major producers will keep output capped in the second half of the year.
U.S. crude futures was unchanged at $50.60 by 6:56AM ET (10:56GMT), while Brent oil slipped 0.09% to $53.48.