NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Markets sought direction Monday morning following a big jump in profits at Citigroup and reports that General Motors had reached an agreement with a union on reducing health care costs.

U.S. stock futures were mixed, signaling a positive opening for stocks.

GM (Research) had been in all-night talks with the United Auto Workers union about trimming health care costs, and reports of a deal sent GM shares up over 4 percent in electronic trade.

Citigroup (Research) said third-quarter profit rose 35 percent as growth in investment banking and a gain from the sale of insurance businesses helped offset consumer banking weakness and the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Oil prices were up on new concerns that Tropical Storm Wilma in the Caribbean could again pose a threat to oil facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The November light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained $1.17 to $63.80 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude rose $1.17 to $60.65.

Michael Carty, stock market strategist for New Millennium Advisors, said he thinks the spike in oil prices early Monday could be short-lived, at least until there is much better information on the threat posed by the storm.

"I think this is an overreaction," he said. "We really have to wait and see what's going on there. I think oil going up by a dollar on this flimsy news is speculators playing with it."

Carty said earnings reports will be particularly important to investors this week, particularly any guidance that companies give on what they're expecting in the current quarter rather than the recently completed period.

"We know Katrina had a negative impact on earnings," said Carty. "They (investors) are looking more forward than backwards on earnings."

IBM (Research) was set to report results after the market close.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Monday as Japan's Nikkei lost ground for the fourth straight session while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained. Major European markets were higher in early trading.

Treasury prices were slightly higher, with the 10-year note yield down to 4.47 percent from 4.48 percent late Friday. The dollar gained ground against the euro and the yen.

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