Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:51:00 +0200

US stocks mildly higher despite light volume

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Confidence in further Fed stimulus measures following Friday’s dismal NFP results is extending into this week with Wall Street posting modest gains in early trading Monday. So far the DOW is up some 18 points of 0.18%, while the NASDAQ and S&P boast gains of 0.38% and 0.28% respectively.

With little information to go on today, the market is betting on further quantitative easing measures at the Fed’s next policy meeting, while at the same time focusing in on what’s expected to be stellar 3rd quarter earnings results. Aluminum giant Alcoa opened the season by posting better-than-expected results last week, helping to support optimism for others. This week will see a slew of important earnings reports by the likes of Intel, JP Morgan Chase, Google and General Electric.

Regarding stocks in focus, Boeing is up around 1.0% while Alcoa and JP Morgan Chase show gains of around 0.90% each. Moreover, shares for Gymboree are up a solid 23% following news of the firm being bought out by Bain Capital for around $1.8 billion.