US stock-index futures pointed to a higher open on Monday after a government report showed that consumer spending rose 0.7% in February.
At 8:39 am ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 2 points to 1,312. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures climbed 12 points to 12,182. The Nasdaq Composite futures advanced 3.50 points to 2,320.50.
The Commerce Department reported Monday that consumer spending rose 0.7% in February. Economists expected spending to rise 0.5%. Personal income increased 0.3% last month, matching estimates.
Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) rallied nearly 1.8% after the company announced that it has reached a new agreement with Paramount Pictures to expand its streaming service in Canada.The five-year agreement with the movie studio, which is owned by Viacom will add more than 350 movies, such as Iron Man 2 and Titanic to Netflix's library in Canada.
American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) rose as much as 2% in Monday's pre-maket trading after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the company from Equalweight to Overweight.
European stocks were little changed in afternoon trade. At 12:16 pm, the UK FTSE rose 4.26 points or 0.07% to 5,885.13. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.15% and 0.15% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 lost 57.60 points or 0.60% to 9,478.53. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong dropped 90.48 points or 0.39% to 23,068.19.
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