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 Asian financial markets stabilized on Monday after central banks in the region added modestly to the liquidity injections.
Dow futures expiring in September rose 83, or 0.60 percent, to 13,320, while Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 12.00, or 0.83 percent, to 1,462.80. Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 15.25, or 0.79 percent, to 1,944.25.
Although investors seemed to be in a better humor Monday, there was still a great deal of uncertainty in the market because there is still no way of knowing the extent of problems in the subprime mortgage sector. Defaults among subprime mortgage holders
-- people with poor credit -- began the chain of events that led to the turmoil on Wall Street and other stock markets the past few weeks.
On Monday, struggling subprime lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. said it has sued Lone Star Fund V LP and two affiliates to get the private equity firm to follow through with an agreed-to takeover. Lone Star said Friday in a regulatory filing that Accredited no longer met the conditions of its $400 million acquisition offer. Without a deal, Accredited has cautioned that it may face bankruptcy.
Overseas Monday, Japan's Nikkei stock average gained 0.21 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.87 percent, Germany's DAX index added 0.83 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.05 percent.
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 The dollar was mixed against other major world currencies. Gold futures slipped in premarket activity, while crude oil prices rose in electronic trading.
In economic news, the Commerce Department on Monday reports retail sales for July and business inventories for June. Investors will also monitor two key barometers of inflation
-- the Labor Department's Producer Price Index on Tuesday and Consumer Price Index on Wednesday. Because the Fed has made it clear as recently as last week that its primary concern is fighting inflation, Wall Street could react poorly if the PPI or CPI comes in higher than expected.
In its first quarterly report as a public company, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP posted second-quarter revenue of $975.3 billion, below analysts' consensus of $1.06 billion. The company's much-anticipated initial public offering in June raised about $4 billion, but the stock has fallen short of expectations.
[Associated Press; by Lauren
Villagran]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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