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Oil
prices were up for the third straight day, rising to their
highest in nearly a month, as speculation intensified that oil
producers may try to work out ways to support prices in an
oversupplied market. [O/R]
The Chinese blue-chip index <CSI300> jumped to a seven-month
high on growing optimism of additional stimulus following a
series of weak economic data.
Investors are awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July
policy meeting for clues on when it would raise interest rates.
The minutes are due on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
Robust labor market data and better-than-expected quarterly
earnings of U.S. companies could prod the central bank to raise
rates sometime this year.
However, traders remain skeptical of a rate hike as U.S.
inflation remains below the Fed's 2 percent target and central
banks worldwide unleash stimulus programs to support their
economies.
The odds of a hike stand at 9 percent for September and rise to
about 41 percent for December, according to CME Group's Fedwatch
tool.
U.S. stocks closed little changed on Friday as weak retail sales
numbers dampened the prospects of economic expansion, even as
the Nasdaq trudged to a fresh record close.
* Activision Blizzard's <ATVI.O> shares rose 3.9 percent to
$42.73 in premarket trading after billionaire investor Daniel
Loeb's hedge fund bought 3 million shares of the gaming company.
The stock was the top percentage gainer among S&P 500
components.
Cyberark <CYBR.O> was down 4.6 percent at $50.50 after Goldman
Sachs removed the stock from its "buy" list.
Mid-America Apartment Communities <MAA.N> rose 1.3 percent to
$103.50 in light trading after the company said it would acquire
Post Properties <PPS.N> for about $3.88 billion. Post's shares
were not trading.
Valeant <VRX.N> rose 3.7 percent to $25.83 after Mizuho raised
the stock's rating to "neutral" from "underperform".
Sysco <SYY.N> was up 6.3 percent ahead of its results due at
8:00 a.m. ET (1200 GMT).
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Anil D'Silva)
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