US open: Stocks rally as geopolitical tensions ease
US stocks advanced as tensions in Ukraine and Iraq cooled.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov made progress on talks in Berlin to solve the crisis, which helped to lift sentiment on global equity markets.
Developments in Iraq were also being watched on reports that Islamic State (IS) militants have been forced out of Mosul dam by Kurdish fighters and Iraqi counter-terrorism forces.
The US economic data calendar will be quiet on Monday, but the schedule will pick up the pace later in the week with inflation numbers, housing-market figures, jobless claims and minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting likely to be closely watched.
Meanwhile, the Jackson Hole summit of central bankers in Wyoming and keynote speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday will also be in focus.
"Yellen's predecessor, Ben Bernanke, previously used this opportunity to hint at future changes to monetary policy and people will be watching very closely to see if the current Fed Chair does the same," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari UK.
In corporate news, Dollar General's share price jumped in pre-market trade after making a $8.95bn, or $78.50-a-share bid for Family Dollar Stores.
Dollar Tree, which had made an offer of $74.50 per Family Dollar shares, was trading lower.
Monster Beverage Corp. slumped after Jefferies Group downgraded the shares to 'hold' from 'buy'.
The US 10-year yield rose three basis points to 2.37%.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 1.2% to $96.17 per barrel, according to the ICE.
RD