United States Stocks Index Edges Higher

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.45 per cent.

Dow Jones futures up 0.37 per cent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.71 per cent at 4 a.m. ET.

The EU and the IMF agreed on Sunday to help bail out Ireland with loans expected to total 80 billion to 90 billion euros to resolve its banking and budget crisis.

Fears of contagion from the Irish debt crisis to other euro zone countries has weighed on stocks in recent weeks.

The news boosted the euro against the dollar, while oil rose to above 82 dollars a barrel, bouncing back from two straight weeks of losses, helped by the weakening dollar.

European stocks rallied early, led by banking stocks such as Societe Generale and Barclays.

U.S. companies expected to report quarterly results on Monday include Hewlett-Packard, Analog Devices, and Tyson Foods.

The new Basel III banking rules will leave the biggest U.S. banks short of between 100 billion and 150 billion dollars in equity capital.

Ninety per cent of the shortfall will be concentrated in the top six banks, the Financial Times said, citing research from Barclays Capital.

Federal authorities may file a series of insider trading cases against hedge fund traders, consultants and Wall Street bankers within weeks, several lawyers familiar with the situation said.