Stocks: Europe remains in focus

@CNNMoneyInvest April 16, 2012: 9:59 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set to open slightly higher Monday, as investors digest another round of earnings and the latest data on retail sales, with anxieties about Europe still looming.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were up around 0.2% in premarket trading. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Europe remains in focus this week, with Spanish 10-year bond yields climbing above 6% on Monday -- their highest level in several months. Italian yields also rose slightly, while German yields dropped as investors fled to safety.

Investors will be watching auctions of Spanish government bills on Tuesday and bonds on Thursday. Spain has been struggling with rising borrowing costs, amid fears that it may need to be bailed out.

"Investors are clearly questioning the sustainability of the fiscal situation in Spain for the near term," said Nick Stamenkovic, a fixed income strategist at RIA Capital Markets Ltd.

In corporate news, Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) shares were up 2% in premarket trading after the bank reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Citigroup reported earnings of $1.11 per share excluding certain items, compared with analyst expectations of $1 per share. Including those items, Citi missed expectations, posting a profit of $0.95 per share.

So far, bank earnings are off to a solid start, after both Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) topped estimates when they released reports Friday. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) will all report earnings later in the week.

Stocks are coming off of their worst week of the year. Last week, the Dow tumbled 1.6%, the S&P 500 sank 2% and the Nasdaq lost 2.3%.

World markets: European stocks were higher in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) was up 0.5%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany rose 0.5% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) added 0.8%.

Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) slid 0.1%, while the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong shed 0.4% and Japan's Nikkei (N225) dropped 1.7%.

Economy: A report on business inventories in February is due out after the market opens.

Companies: Mattel (MAT, Fortune 500) shares fell after the company reported quarterly earnings before the bell that missed expectations.

Nokia (NOK) shares were down after the company was downgraded by credit rating agency Moody's.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained against the euro and the British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for May delivery rose 11 cents to $102.94 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $11.20 to $1,647.90 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.99%. To top of page

Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
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15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
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