September housing sales, earnings from P&G and two other Dow components to start trading week.
Monday's reports on housing sales,quarterly results from three Dow components and a reported $12 billion managed care merger will kick off the final week of what has been a positive October so far for U.S. markets.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a mixed start for the major indexes.
Housing sales are expected to have eased somewhat in September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the government's reading of new home sales to have slipped to a 1.11 million annual rate from 1.15 million in August. As for homes of existing houses, as released by the National Association of Realtors, the annual sales rate is projected at 6.3 million, down from 6.47 million.
International Paper and Procter & Gamble are scheduled to issue their results before the start of trading.
IP (IP: Research, Estimates) is seen posting income of 25 cents a share, down from 32 cents a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call.
P&G (PG: Research, Estimates), the maker of such household standbys as Tide detergent and Pringles snack chips, is expected to put up a profit of $1.25 a share, up from $1.12 a year earlier.
Around midsession, financial services provider American Express (AXP: Research, Estimates) puts up its numbers. It's forecast to post a profit of 58 cents a share, up from 52 cents in the 2002 period.
The reported managed-care industry merger involves Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks. The Wall Street Journal said Monday that Anthem has agreed to buy WellPoint for $12 billion in cash and stock; the deal is expected to be announced later in the day.
U.S. stocks are coming a losing week. For the Dow Jones industrial average, the nearly 31-point loss capped a 1.4 percent drop for the week, the first such weekly decline in four weeks. The Nasdaq composite index was down 2.4 percent last week after a nearly 20-point shelling (see chart for details of Friday's session).
But October -- often feared for its volatility -- has been a generally positive month. With five trading sessions left, the Dow is up more than 307 points and the Nasdaq is higher by more than 78 points.
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mostly higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1.2 percent. European markets were higher in early trading.
Treasury prices fell in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.27 percent from 4.23 percent late Friday. The dollar declined against the yen, but was slightly higher versus the euro.
Brent oil futures rose 49 cents to $29.12 a barrel in London, where gold was lower in early trading.
Monday's reports on housing sales,quarterly results from three Dow components and a reported $12 billion managed care merger will kick off the final week of what has been a positive October so far for U.S. markets.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a mixed start for the major indexes.
Housing sales are expected to have eased somewhat in September. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the government's reading of new home sales to have slipped to a 1.11 million annual rate from 1.15 million in August. As for homes of existing houses, as released by the National Association of Realtors, the annual sales rate is projected at 6.3 million, down from 6.47 million.
International Paper and Procter & Gamble are scheduled to issue their results before the start of trading.
IP (IP: Research, Estimates) is seen posting income of 25 cents a share, down from 32 cents a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call.
P&G (PG: Research, Estimates), the maker of such household standbys as Tide detergent and Pringles snack chips, is expected to put up a profit of $1.25 a share, up from $1.12 a year earlier.
Around midsession, financial services provider American Express (AXP: Research, Estimates) puts up its numbers. It's forecast to post a profit of 58 cents a share, up from 52 cents in the 2002 period.
The reported managed-care industry merger involves Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks. The Wall Street Journal said Monday that Anthem has agreed to buy WellPoint for $12 billion in cash and stock; the deal is expected to be announced later in the day.
U.S. stocks are coming a losing week. For the Dow Jones industrial average, the nearly 31-point loss capped a 1.4 percent drop for the week, the first such weekly decline in four weeks. The Nasdaq composite index was down 2.4 percent last week after a nearly 20-point shelling (see chart for details of Friday's session).
But October -- often feared for its volatility -- has been a generally positive month. With five trading sessions left, the Dow is up more than 307 points and the Nasdaq is higher by more than 78 points.
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mostly higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1.2 percent. European markets were higher in early trading.
Treasury prices fell in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.27 percent from 4.23 percent late Friday. The dollar declined against the yen, but was slightly higher versus the euro.
Brent oil futures rose 49 cents to $29.12 a barrel in London, where gold was lower in early trading.
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