Stocks headed for early gains

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stock futures were signaling a solid open Monday morning, as investors await key economic data and continue to focus on global developments.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Stocks managed to head higher last week, as investors turned their attention to strong corporate earnings and shrugged off geopolitical concerns. The Dow gained more than 3%, the S&P 500 gained 2.7% and the Nasdaq surged 3.7%.

Gains last week came despite ongoing concerns about Japan’s nuclear crisis, along with continuing unrest in the Middle East and the civil war in Libya.

Investors said the main event this week will be Friday’s monthly hiring and unemployment report from the U.S. Labor Department. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the economy created 185,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 8.9%.

Economy: On Monday, the Commerce Department releases February personal income and spending figures at 8:30 a.m. ET. Additionally, the National Association of Realtors will issue its January pending home sales report at 10 a.m. ET.

Pending home sales are expected to increase 0.3%, while personal income is expected to rise 0.3% and personal spending is forecasted to climb 0.5%.

World markets: European stocks were mixed in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%, the DAX in Germany eased 0.2% and France’s CAC 40 was little changed.

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.6%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for May delivery slipped 49 cents to $104.91 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $6.40 to $1,419.80 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.47% from 3.40% late Friday.  

First Published: March 28, 2011: 6:33 AM ET