Wall Street to open higher, Dow on track to extend record run

U.S. stock indexes were on track to open higher on Monday, with the Dow looking to extend its record run.

The blue-chip index, which closed at a record high for the eight straight session on Friday, was powered by a robust July employment report on Friday that showed U.S. employers added more jobs than expected in the month.

The report is likely to clear the way for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start shrinking its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio in September, and could strengthen its case to raise rates for the third time this year in December.

"U.S. futures are pointing a little higher on Monday, with the spill over from the July jobs report perhaps providing a small boost to sentiment at the start of the week," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at online forex broker Oanda.

"The jobs report was quite well-received on Friday despite suffering the same pitfall that has plagued the US recovery for years, inadequate wage growth."

Dow e-minis were up 32 points, or 0.15 percent, with 15,997 contracts changing hands at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).

S&P 500 e-minis were up 3 points, or 0.12 percent, with 101,243 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.18 percent, on volume of 20,064 contracts.

Meanwhile, investors will continue to closely track the second-quarter earnings season to see if pricey valuations are justified.

Analysts, on average, expect S&P 500 earnings to have grown 12 percent in the second quarter and they project earnings up 9.3 percent for the September quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The S&P is trading at 18 times expected earnings, compared to its 10-year average of 14, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

Fed speakers scheduled to make appearances later on Monday include St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari.

Oil prices edged lower, sliding away from nine-week highs, as worries lingered over high production from OPEC and the United States. [O/R]

Global markets seemed to largely shrug off news over the weekend that the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to end its nuclear program.

Shares of United Technologies were down 1.23 percent in premarket trading following a report that the company has submitted an offer to buy aircraft component manufacturer Rockwell Collins. Rockwell was up 7.19 percent.

Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway was down 0.96 percent after it reported a drop in second-quarter profit.

Tyson Foods rose 2.69 percent after the No. 1 U.S. meat processor, reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)