Stocks May Open Notably Higher Amid Weakening Dollar - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stock futures are pointing to a notably higher opening on Monday, as the dollar is seeing some weakness and rising commodity prices along with positive trading in global markets are generating buying interest. The major index futures are all in positive territory, with the Dow futures up by 88 points.

Traders may also focus on the existing home sales report for clues on the strength of the housing sector, although volumes are expected to be relatively thin amid the Thanksgiving Day holiday-shortened week of trading.

The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales in October at 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the sales rate of existing homes to jump to 5.7 million from the 5.57 reported for the previous month.

In corporate news, the race to acquire UK-based confectionery maker Cadbury (CBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) seems to be heating up, with Kraft Foods (KFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reportedly considering an increase in the bid price to $16.3 billion. U.S. chocolate maker Hershey Co. (HSY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Swiss chocolate giant Nestle S.A have also shown interest in Cadbury.

Additionally, Wal-Mart (WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has released a number of discounts short of the Thanksgiving Day holiday in an effort to revive consumer spending ahead of the holidays and Christmas.

Tyson Foods (TSN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported a fourth quarter net loss of $1.22 per share, compared to net income of $0.13 per share last year. Excluding a goodwill impairment charge, the company earned $0.28 per share compared to analyst estimates of $0.26 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $7.214 billion, beating the $6.88 billion expected on Wall Street.

Stocks moved mostly lower on Friday, as a lack of significant economic catalysts gave traders the further opportunity to cash in on recent gains ahead of next week's deluge of data. The Dow closed down by 14 points at 10,318, the Nasdaq fell by 11 points to 2,146 and the S&P 500 slipped by 4 points to 1,091.

Amid some profit taking over the past few sessions, the major averages closed on a mixed note for the week. The Dow posted a weekly gain of 0.5 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 posted a more modest 0.2 percent loss for the week.

Crude oil futures are up by $1.07 at $78.54 a barrel after falling by $0.58 to $77.47 on Friday. Gold futures are also moving higher, jumping by $17.90 to $1,164.70 an ounce after rising by $4.90 to close at $1,146.80 an ounce in the previous session.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is retreating against the major European currencies, falling to $1.4971 versus the euro and dropping to $1.6623 versus the pound. The dollar is little changed against the Japanese yen, trading at 88.88 yen.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly higher on Monday, although the Japanese market was closed on the day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.9 percent.

The major European markets are also advancing, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index up by 1.2 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are advancing by 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

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