NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised for early gains Monday as investors looked to recover from last week's big pullback.
The Dow Jones industrial average, Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were higher.
Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.
"It looks like a strong bounce back," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets in London. "This might be a feeling that the sell-off in banks might have gone too far. There may be a feeling that the pessimism may have been overdone on Friday."
Stocks on Wall Street plunged last week, turning in their worst week in nearly a year, after President Obama proposed new limits on banks. The Dow, which sank 4%, had its worst week since March 6, 2009.
Earnings: Fourth-quarter earnings will be in focus this week, with tech giant Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) due to report results after U.S. markets close Monday.
Other companies on tap to report quarterly results include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500), Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500).
Federal Reserve: U.S. central bankers meet Tuesday and Wednesday and are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at near zero.
Many economists doubt the Fed will offer new details about when it plans to start raising rates or withdrawing its stimulus programs, but investors nonetheless will scrutinize its policy statement for any clues.
World markets: Sentiment was downbeat in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei tumbled 0.7%. Major European indexes were mostly higher at midday.
Cash and bonds: The dollar was lower against most major international currencies, but rose against the yen. The price dropped on the 10-year note, driving up the yield to 3.63%.
Oil and gold: The price of oil rose 28 cents to $74.82. The price of gold rose $10.60 to $1,100.30 per troy ounce.
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| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.80% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.09% | 3.11% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.65% | 2.69% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.77% | 3.86% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.09% | 3.21% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,454.83 | -74.92 | -0.60% |
| Nasdaq | 2,837.53 | -1.85 | -0.07% |
| S&P 500 | 1,317.82 | -2.86 | -0.22% |
| Treasuries | 1.74 | -0.01 | -0.80% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.15 | 0.01 | 0.14% |
| Sprint Nextel Corp | 2.62 | 0.09 | 3.56% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 16.33 | -0.06 | -0.37% |
| Chesapeake Energy Co... | 15.81 | 0.23 | 1.48% |
| Ford Motor Co | 10.60 | 0.01 | 0.09% |
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