US pre-open: Futures trade higher following solid gains on Friday

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Monday as stocks look to extend gains recorded in their first strong session of 2023.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.31%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.40% and 0.48% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed a whopping 700.53 points higher on Friday after non-farm payrolls came in slightly higher than expected.

Monday marks the beginning of another week full of key macroeconomic data, with last month's consumer price index out on Thursday, while earnings will also be in focus, as the likes of Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Delta Air Lines all report their latest quarterly figures on Friday.

As far as the bank earnings go, investors will zero in on the level of bad loan provisions and mortgages, given that although rising interest rates will be good for earnings, higher-than-expected interest rates will likely threaten credit quality, loan growth, and net interest margins.

Capitol Hill was also drawing an amount of investor attention after Republican Kevin McCarthy finally became US House Speaker after battling through 15 rounds and four days of chaotic voting. However, many view McCarthy's job to come as being even more difficult than his path to seize the gavel in the first place.

Scope Markets' James Hughes said: "Wall Street is eyeing a slightly positive start to the week’s trade, with markets continuing to digest those better-than-expected payroll figures from Friday against the mounting risk of a US recession.

"The concessions made in electing a new House speaker in Washington also have the ability to cast something of a shadow over the political front in the US given that lawmakers need to be focused on raising the debt ceiling in the coming months too, although looking at futures markets the bulls do appear to have the edge for now."

On today's macro slate, consumer credit change figures for November will be released at 2000 GMT.

In the corporate space, Uber shares traded higher in pre-market after analysts at Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to 'overweight'.

Elsewhere, WD-40 will report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com