By Tomi Kilgore and Josie Cox
U.S. stock futures rose, with technology stocks poised to extend
their bounce and blue chips on course for another record.
European markets were broadly higher as investors shrugged off
this weekend's secession referendum in Ukraine.
About 90 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures added 52 points, or 0.3%, to 16579. On Friday, the Dow rose
32 points, or 0.2%, to close at a record high for the second time
this year.
S&P 500 index futures tacked on seven points, or 0.4%, to
1880 and Nasdaq-100 futures rallied 19 points, or 0.5%, to 3567.
Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock
moves after the opening bell.
The S&P 500 rose Friday to within 0.7% of its April 2 record
close of 1890.90.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 index
of small-capitalization stocks bounced on Friday, but still
suffered weekly losses of 1.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
On Monday, the iShares Russell 2000 exchange traded fund gained
0.5% in premarket trading.
Among other early movers, many of the recently beaten-down
technology and consumer Internet stocks were bouncing ahead of the
open.
Twitter rallied 3%, after slumping 18% last week. Amazon gained
0.7%, Tesla Motors advanced 1.1% and Facebook rose 0.9%.
Corporate news flow was light, but included more deal news.
Pinnacle Foods surged 23% after agreeing to be acquired by
Hillshire Brands for roughly $4.3 billion in cash and stock.
Hillshire's stock ran up 6.2%.
There were no major economic data scheduled for release early
Monday. So investors will be looking ahead to data on retail sales,
wholesale and retail inflation, industrial production, consumer
sentiment and on the housing market later this week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.645% from
2.621% late Friday.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.6%, and was headed for
the highest close since January 2008.
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine declared victory in
Sunday's secession referendum, ratcheting up tensions between the
West and Moscow. Russia said it would respect the vote and hopes
for a "civilized implementation" of the results. Meanwhile, the
West and Ukraine's government call the referendum illegitimate.
"It seems to be a bit of a trend these days that headlines come
out over the weekend and come Monday the impact on the market is
very limited," said Ian Williams, economist and strategist at
brokerage Peel Hunt. "Macro implications of the latest developments
are of course potentially harmful, but the market seems to have
priced in everything. It's just been going on for too long."
Germany's DAX 30 index gained 1%, France's CAC 40 tacked on 0.2%
and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4%.
Crude oil futures gained 0.5% to $100.48 a barrel, while gold
futures tacked on 0.7% to $1,296.70 an ounce. The dollar inched
higher against the euro and the yen.
Asian markets were mixed. China's Shanghai Composite shot up
2.1% to a two-week high after the country's State Council said it
would move toward less regulated capital markets. Japan's Nikkei
Stock Average lost 0.4% after data showing a sharp drop in the
current account surplus.
Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@wsj.com and Josie Cox at
josie.cox@wsj.com