U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Monday, May 9. The Dow Futures are up 40.00 points to 17,711.0. The S&P 500 Futures are up 4.50 points to 2,057.25. The Nasdaq Futures are up 12.75 points to 4,341.0. The Russell Futures are showing a gain of 2.30 points to 1,116.2.

In overnight trading, markets mainly traded higher. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite is down -80.34 points to 2,832.91 for a loss of -2.76 percent. Japan’s Nikkei is higher at 16,216.03 for a gain of 109.31 points or 0.68 percent. India’s NSE Nifty is at 7,866.05 for a gain of 132.60 points or 1.71 percent. In Europe the FTSE is at 6,160.02 for a gain of 34.32 points or 0.56 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10,056.14 for a gain of 186.19 points or 1.89 percent and France’s CAC 40 is at 4,358.50 for a gain of 57.26 points or 1.33 percent.

Monday’s Factors and Events

Market futures are higher as stocks appear ready to gain from marginally higher oil prices and new jobs data affects. While Friday’s jobs report was slightly weaker than expected, volatility in stocks appears low as it seems the Fed may delay its next rate increase. With less urgency around a rate increase, economists will be more focused on economic data for the second quarter which many hope will slightly rebound.

Stocks actively trading pre-market include Gilead Sciences, Mondelez International, LBL Brands, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and AT&T. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average Apple, Microsoft and McDonald’s are the most actively traded. For the week, the first quarter earnings reports will be nearing an end with only Disney reporting earnings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

A close watch on the economic indicators will continue this week as the economic data appears to be trending slightly weaker. The Labor Market Conditions Index will be reported on Monday morning which should give some further indications of the strength in the labor market. Fed speakers for the day include Charles Evans and Neel Kashkari. Major reports for the week include retail sales, consumer sentiment and the Producer Price Index on Friday.

Friday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes closed broadly higher on Friday despite the weak jobs report as valuations remained subdued with expectations for a delay in the next federal funds rate increase. On Friday the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,740.63 for a gain of 79.92 points or 0.45 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2,057.14 for a gain of 6.51 points or 0.32 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 4,736.15 for a gain of 19.06 points or 0.40 percent.

Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

On Friday, Wal-Mart, IBM and Cisco led the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher while Merck and Apple led losses. In the broader market, materials and consumer discretionary gained while utilities and healthcare were lower.

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1,452.71 for a gain of 6.23 points or 0.43 percent; the Russell 3000 which closed at 1,210.55 for a gain of 4.18 points or 0.35 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 585.10 for a gain of 0.94 points or 0.16 percent.