By Avantika Chilkoti 

-- S&P 500 rises 0.13%

-- Brent crude oil gains 0.8%

-- Most Asian stocks down; European shares waver

U.S. stocks opened higher Monday, as investors prepared for a week filled with fresh economic data and more corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35 points, or 0.1%, to 27190 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%.

Investors braced for fresh economic data this week as expectations for interest-rate cuts from major central banks grow. Reports on new-home sales and durable-goods orders are on tap Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department will report second-quarter growth figures on Friday.

As central banks across the globe are expected to undertake fresh stimulus measures in the coming months, investors are looking ahead to policy meeting from the Federal Reserve next week and the European Central Bank on Thursday.

"In the next six months we are looking for evidence that either 'Goldilocks' continues or we get greater evidence that the global economy is slowing down," said Paul Brain, head of fixed income at Newton Investment Management, the BNY Mellon subsidiary, referring to the period when the global economy has been neither too hot nor too cold.

In Asia, China's new market for homegrown technology stocks opened with a rally Monday. The Shanghai Stock Exchange's Science and Technology Innovation Board, also known as the STAR market, was launched this week as part of the country's effort to lead the world of global tech. Of the 25 companies traded on the exchange, a semiconductor group and medical instrument maker surged the most.

Other Asian markets dropped, however, with China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively.

Concerns about public unrest rattled the Hong Kong stock market Monday, with property developers and retail landlords leading the decline. Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's largest developer by market capitalization, fell 2.6%, its biggest drop in two weeks.

Francis Lun, chief executive of brokerage Geo Securities, said the financial market has begun to feel the pinch as lingering public unrest will likely hurt retail spending and investment sentiment.

"The longer these demonstrations and unrest persist, the more serious of a toll both in real and psychological terms will negatively impact on Hong Kong's financial center and retail sentiment," Mr. Lun said.

The European market wavered Monday as earnings season rolled on. Shares in Dutch technology group Koninklijke Philips jumped 4.3% after the company posted better-than-expected results early Monday, with rising sales and margins.

Meanwhile, shares in Whitbread, the hotels and restaurants group that includes Premier Inn, lost 3.7%. The company said it had returned GBP2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) to shareholders following the sale of its Costa coffee chain last year.

In commodities, the price of Brent crude rose to $62.92 a barrel as tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf. Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf on Friday.

--Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.

Write to Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2019 09:49 ET (13:49 GMT)

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