Corporate Earnings Expectations Lift US Stock Futures

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Monday as investors hope that the corporate earnings to be reported this week will indicate that the economy is recovering and regaining the growth momentum.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.12 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.32 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.49 percent. 

Investors will focus on a slew of corporate earnings to be reported this week which will present a clearer picture on the impact of the weakening global economy upon on the U.S. business conditions. Market players will be keenly watching the earning reports from Apple, Amazon.com, Facebook and Ford Motor to be announced this week.

On Friday, the U.S. markets declined with investor sentiment turning negative as the quarterly results reported by companies fell below the forecast.

McDonald's reported Friday that the company’s third quarter profit declined 3 percent compared to the same period last year, indicating the weakening global economic condition. For the third quarter, the company reported a net income of $1.46 billion or $1.43 per share net income, down from $1.51 billion or $1.45 per share in the same period earlier year and below the analysts’ expectation of $1.48 per share.

General Electric reported Friday that the company’s third quarter profit rose 8 percent compared to the same period last year. For the third quarter, the company reported operating earnings of $3.80 billion or $0.36 per share up from $3.46 billion or $0.24 per share.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.52 percent, the S&P 500 Index was down 1.66 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.19 percent.

European markets fell Monday as investor sentiment turned negative with the revival of the concerns over the debt crisis affecting the euro zone following the continuing financial instability in Greece and the delay in Spain asking for a bailout officially. London's FTSE 100 was down 11.70 points, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 14.54 points and France's CAC 40 dropped 8.30 points.

Asian stocks were mixed Monday following the report that Japan's trade deficit increased in September compared to the same month last year, raising the concerns about the faltering global economy. Japan’s Finance Ministry data showed that the country recorded 558.6 billion yen ($7.0 billion) trade deficit in September, compared to a surplus of 288.8 billion yen last year.