Investors have had a weekend to lick Friday’s wounds and, encouraged by a decisive outcome to the Greek elections, are set to resume buying stocks.
Syriza emerged as the largest party in the latest Greek poll, reassuring markets that Athens would continue to implement measures agreed in its latest bailout.
Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets said: "This should at least provide some stability in terms of keeping to the terms of the bailout before the first progress review."
On Friday the Dow Jones ended 290 points down at 16,385 and the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 were also sharply lower.
Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow will claw back about 140 points of Friday’s losses when trading kicks off, while the S&P 500 is set to open up around 11 points at 1,969.
Investors will be waiting on home sales data and also on a speech this afternoon from Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart.
Talking of home sales, house builder Lennar (NYSE:LEN) has reported profit of US$223mln for its end-August quarter, equivalent to 96 cents a share. Analysts who follow the company had a consensus earnings forecast of 81 cents. Earnings per share in the same quarter of last year were 78 cents.
Pre-market trading indicates that investors are not overly fussed by news that malware (malicious software) had been embedded in otherwise legitimate Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) apps.
The gadget maker’s products have a good record when it comes to software safety, due largely to the company’s policy of keeping tight control over what can and can’t run on its operating system.
Holders of German car maker Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) have been left spluttering at news that the company’s vehicles have been breaching US air pollution tests, leaving it facing potential fines of US$18bn.