WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Wall Street is likely to open the event-filled week
higher as stocks look headed for a positive start Monday morning with investors
continuing to digest recent earnings updates and awaiting more earnings news
from top notch firms, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

U.S. Futures are trading higher. The Dow futures are gaining 0.18 percent, the
S&P futures are up 0.25 percent, and the Nasdaq futures are advancing 0.35
percent.

The major averages closed on a firm note on Friday, riding on upbeat earnings
announcements from Google parent Alphabet, and software major Microsoft.

The Dow surged 316.14 points or 2.0 percent to 15,927.90, the S&P 500 jumped
51.54 points or 1.0 percent to 5,099.96 and the Dow climbed 153.86 points or 0.4
percent to 38,239.66.

The Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting gets underway on Tuesday.
The central bank is widely expected to hold its rates unchanged. The
accompanying statement, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post match press
conference on Wednesday will be in focus for the likely timing of interest rate
cuts by the central bank.

On the earnings front, Amazon and Apple Inc. are among the top companies that
are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings this week.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks rose in thin trade on Monday, with Japanese
markets closed for a holiday.

Traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday after
the central bank's preferred inflation gauge largely met expectations.

European stocks turning in a mixed performance. Among the major markets, U.K. is
outperforming, with real estate stocks faring well after data showed house sales
in the country rose for the seventh consecutive month in April thanks to higher
demand for smaller homes.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up marginally at
$83.90 a barrel. Gold futures are gaining $6.00 at $2,353.20 an ounce.

In the currency market, the dollar is trading at 1.0715 against the Euro, after
settling at 1.0693 on Friday. The dollar is down against the Japanese currency,
fetching 156.35 yen a unit, compared to 158.34 yen on Friday.



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