By Anna Hirtenstein
U.S. stock futures edged higher Monday, following the major indexes' climb to close at record highs last week.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, signaling an extension of last week's muted gains that sent the broad-market index to an all-time high Friday. Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5%. Markets in the U.S. are closed Monday for Presidents Day holiday.
Stock markets have climbed this year as investors look ahead to additional stimulus spending and an economic recovery as vaccination programs are rolled out around the world. Democrats plan to proceed this week with work related to President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan. World leaders are also set to jointly discuss the pandemic response at a virtual meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Friday.
Investors are focused on "fiscal stimulus, monetary stimulus, the recovery and earnings that are expected to come through in 2021," said Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Managers.
Monday is "going to be a quieter day with more of the same, more upward moves," she added.
The corporate earnings season is also winding down. CVS Health, Walmart and Palantir Technologies are expected to be among the companies reporting earnings later in the week.
Oil prices rose to their highest since January 2020, before the pandemic hit markets. Cold weather in Texas poses a risk to oil output in the key shale-producing state, analysts said. Brent rose 1.4% to $63.28 a barrel and the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, added 2% to $60.59. Natural gas prices are up over 4%.
Bitcoin prices notched a record high over the weekend, trading above $49,500, according to data from CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency pulled back on Monday, easing back down to $47,805.
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.8%.
Italian stocks continue to rally for the third consecutive trading session. The FTSE MIB index gained 0.8%. Mario Draghi was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday and investors are widely expecting him to push through with economic reforms.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was the best performing major stock index in Western Europe, rising 1.4%. The British government said over the weekend that it has reached its goal of vaccinating 15 million people, prompting calls for a faster easing of lockdown measures.
In a sign of investors' rising risk appetite, the yield on 10-year U.K. gilts rose to 0.576%, from 0.518% on Friday. Yields rise when bond prices fall. The British pound strengthened 0.3% against the dollar, trading close to a three-year high.
"We are at the head of the pack for vaccine-related news: it is a big support for the U.K.," said Georgina Taylor, a multiasset fund manager at Invesco. "For global investors revisiting U.K. equities, this could play out for a while as it has been such a laggard market."
In Asia, exchanges in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% by the close of trading, rising above 30000 for the first time in 30 years. Fresh data showed that the Japanese economy expanded 3% in the fourth quarter due to a recovery in domestic demand and exports, beating economists' expectations.
Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-15-21 0503ET
