Global stocks breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday, rallying on a weekend agreement over Greece's austerity measures that will cut the value of the country's government bonds and secure another round of bailout funds from the euro zone.
U.S. stocks index futures moved higher with less than two hours before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 73 points or 0.6 per cent. Futures for the broader S&P 500 rose 8 points or 0.6 per cent.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1 per cent and Germany's DAX index rose 0.7 per cent in afternoon trading. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 per cent in overnight trading, even as the country's gross domestic product fell 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter over the previous quarter.
Most major indexes sagged on Friday, over concerns that Greece could slide into a messy default as it missed successive deadlines to approve austerity measures. Now, investors appear to be overlooking violent rioting in Athens, highlighting the unpopularity of austerity measures and the fact that other hurdles in the debt crisis remain -- such as actually implementing the widespread budget cuts.
Commodity prices rose, with crude oil up 0.9 per cent, to $99.54. Gold rose 0.3 per cent, to $1,730.50.
It's a light day for North American economic news, ahead of U.S. retail sales figures on Tuesday.
