U.S. Stocks Set to Continue Rise Following Jobs Report

Investing

Published: August 6, 2012 7:30 am

U.S. stocks are set to open higher, resuming gains following Friday’s upbeat July jobs report.

No major economic reports are due on Monday.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) are on tap to post earnings before the opening bell. The former is expected to report earnings of $0.54 a share on $8.7 billion in revenue, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Earnings per share and revenue from the troubled energy company are expected to have plunged.

On Friday, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) reported a decline in earnings due to derivatives losses, but also reported strong gains in its insurance business.

More than 400 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings for the second quarter. Some 67% of those have exceeded analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters.

Futures in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are up slightly. Nasdaq futures are up about 0.4%.

European stocks advanced after Greece and its international creditors agreed on the need to strengthen policy efforts to support the economy and comply with its bailout terms after more than a week of meetings.

However, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that a lack of urgency in efforts to lower government borrowing costs for Italy and Spain could lead to a potential breakup of the Europe Union.

Also, the Spanish stock exchange was halted this morning due to a technical glitch.

Britain’s FTSE 100 gained about 0.2%, the DAX in Germany added 0.6%, and France’s CAC 40 was up almost 0.6%.

The better-than-expected U.S. jobs report also buoyed Asian markets. And the People’s Bank of China said Sunday it will continue to strengthen its preemptive adjustment and fine-tuning of monetary policy in the second-half of this year to boost development of China’s real economy. Auto manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted strong earnings on Friday.

The Shanghai Composite rose about 1%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.7%, and Japan’s Nikkei was up 2%.

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