LONDON -- Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +1.79%) may start this week of trading up 100 points, or 0.66%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC +1.20%) may open 0.73% higher this morning. CNN's Fear & Greed Index has fallen to 75 from Friday's close of 80 and is now down 16 points from last week's high of 91.
European markets moved sharply higher this morning as British and American investors returned from the holiday weekend. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 1.6%, with all but eight companies in the index showing gains. Similar rises were seen in the main stock markets of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, while Japan's Nikkei and China's Shanghai Composite indexes both closed up by 1.2%, reversing some of last week's losses.
Today's U.S. economic reports include the Case-Shiller home price index for March. Due at 9 a.m. EDT, it is expected to show a 10.3% year-on-year rise in house prices, up from 9.3% in February. At 10 a.m. EDT, May's consumer confidence index is expected to have risen to 72.3 from 68.1 in April.
Among the few major companies reporting earnings before the open today was Tiffany (TIF +0.00%), which beat analysts' expectations with first-quarter earnings of $0.70 per share, a 9% rise on the prior-year quarter's EPS of $0.64 and considerably above analysts' consensus forecasts of $0.53 per share. Tiffany's first-quarter revenue rose by 9% to $895 million. Also reporting before the bell was Canadian Solar, which reported net revenue of $263.6 million for the first quarter, down from $294.8 million in the final quarter of 2012. The firm's diluted loss per share improved to $0.10, compared with a loss of $2.43 per share in the fourth quarter of last year.
Other companies due to report earnings today including United Natural Foods, EnerSys, Guidewire Software, Jos. A Bank Clothiers, Wet Seal, and Seadrill.
Stocks that were higher in premarket trading this morning and may be actively traded when markets open include Citigroup, Ford, Google, Bank of America, and American International Group, all of which are between 1% and 2% higher ahead of the open.
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