US Stock Futures Signal Gains On Asia Data, EU Summit Assurance

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open Monday as investor sentiment turned positive with indications of improvement in business conditions in Asia and also continued optimism on the measures taken at the EU summit.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.31 percent, futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index were up 0.29 percent and futures on the Nasdaq 100 index were up 0.3 percent.

Investors are also likely to focus on the Institute of Supply Management's (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) to be reported Monday. The ISM manufacturing index, which rates the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories, is expected to decline to 52.0 in June from 53.5 in May.

The U.S. Census Bureau will report Monday the construction spending index, which measures the change in the total amount spent on construction. It is expected to increase by 0.2 percent in May down from 0.3 percent increase in April.

Market participants were encouraged to note that the business conditions were improving in Japan. The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed that large manufacturers' business conditions index improved to -1 in June, up from -4 in May.

There is also rising hope among market players that China would announce monetary easing policy. Data released Sunday by the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed that the country's Purchasing Managers' Index declined to 50.2 in June from 50.4 in May.

Investors continued to cheer the fact that the EU summit agreement would help ease concerns that Euro banks' short-term funding pressures have been increasing.

U.S. markets rose Friday as investors became confident over the steps agreed at the EU summit to ease the debt burden on the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 2.2 percent, the S&P 500 Index was up 2.49 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3 percent.

Major European indices were in the green on continued optimism on emergency measures announced by the EU summit last week to lower Italy's and Spain's borrowing costs. London's FTSE 100 rose 11.37 points, Germany's DAX 30 index was up 86.70 points and France's CAC 40 advanced by 7.11 points.

Asian markets also rose Monday following global cues. Market sentiment was positive to note that Japan's economy is slowly recovering.