U.S. stock-index futures advanced as investors focused on the bright spots in China's factory activity data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 18,064, while those for the S&P 500 were up 4.75 points to 2,110.50. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 added 0.3 percent, to 4,525.25.
Growth in China's giant factory sector rose to a six-month high in May but export demand shrank again, fuelling bets more stimulus would have to be rolled out in the coming months.
DATA:
Consumer purchases unexpectedly stalled in April as Americans used income gains to shore up savings. The unchanged reading in purchases followed a 0.5 percent gain the prior month that was larger than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 79 economists called for a 0.2 percent rise.
The ISM manufacturing index for May comes at 10 a.m., along with construction spending for April at the same time.
Later in the week, all eyes will be on Friday's labor market report.
MOVERS:
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 0.7 percent in premarket trading on reports that the Santa Clara, California-based company was nearing a deal to buy programmable-chip maker Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR). Altera rose 4.8 percent.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) gained 1.2 percent on a Wall Street Journal report that the bank is expected to close its troubled Banamex USA unit. Goldman Sachs boosted the stock to "buy" from "neutral".
CTi BioPharma (NASDAQ:CTIC) rose 5.2 percent to $1.94 in heavy trading after the drug developer presented positive data on its blood cancer drug.
Molycorp (NYSE:MCP) fell 28 percent to $0.571 after the Wall Street Journal reported the rare earth miner is expected to skip a loan payment, which might lead to a bankruptcy filing.
COMMODITIES:
Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,186.46. U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down $2.80 at $1,186.90 an ounce.
Front-month Brent crude fell $1.00 a barrel to a low of $64.56 before recovering a little to around $64.65. U.S. light crude was down 75 cents at $59.55 a barrel.
OTHER MARKETS:
European shares rose for the first time in three days. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4 percent to 401.6 in London.