Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.4-0.6 percent, pointing to a higher start on Wall Street on Monday.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Sunday there may not be as much slack in the U.S. economy as many forecasters believe, which means medium-term inflation risks could be higher.

Major companies announcing quarterly results this week include IBM , Intel , JPMorgan Chase , Goldman Sachs , Citigroup , Bank of America and General Electric .

Citigroup Inc is expected to be fined $600,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over derivatives transactions that helped foreign clients avoid taxes on dividends, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Several U.S. companies have awarded stock options to top executives while engaged in merger negotiations, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an academic research paper and its own review of company filings.

Barclays Plc is planning to spin off a 4-billion-pound ($6.35 billion) portfolio of complex credit assets as it presses ahead with a process to clean up its balance sheet, the Financial Times said on Monday.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group is planning to list up to eight of its portfolio companies, according to a source who received a letter the firm sent to investors on Friday.

Crude oil topped $72 a barrel, extending last week's gains, thanks to growing optimism about the pace of the global economic recovery and a positive demand forecast from the International Energy Agency.

However, gains were limited by a strong U.S. dollar, which rose on the back of comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week that the U.S. central bank will be ready to tighten its monetary policy as the economy gains strength.

U.S. stocks achieved their best weekly gains since July and snapped a two-week losing streak on Friday. The five-day rally pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 4 percent for the week, while the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 4.5 percent and the Nasdaq gained 4.5 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended up 78.07 points, or 0.80 percent, at 9,864.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 6.01 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,071.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 15.35 points, or 0.72 percent, to 2,139.28.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares rose 0.9 percent to 1,006.94 points on Monday, led higher by banking and commodity shares.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash)

Ibm Citigroup Ben Bernanke