Stocks Opened Higher ahead of Earnings Season

U.S. stock opened higher on Monday, as investors were bracing for the first-quarter earnings season that kicks off with the results from Alcoa Inc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 114.50 points, or 0.65%, to 17,691.46. The S&P 500 climbed 10.94 points, or 0.53%, to 2,058.54. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 29.46 points, or 0.61%, to 4,880.15.

Oil prices slipped on Monday after banks dampened hopes that the meeting of producers in Doha next Sunday, aimed at freezing current output levels, would improve the demand-supply balance. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, fell by 10 cents to $41.84 a barrel by 1208 GMT. U.S. WTI crude also eased on Monday, falling to $39.50 a barrel, down 22 cents from the previous session.

Growth in developing East Asia and the Pacific is expected to remain resilient despite the slowdown in China and a gloomy global outlook, the World Bank said Monday.

Microsoft (MSFT.O) became on Monday the first major U.S. tech company to say it would transfer users’ information to the United States using a new transatlantic commercial data pact and would resolve any disputes with European privacy watchdogs.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP.TO) said on Monday it had scrapped efforts to buy Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N), almost six months after it launched its unsolicited $28 billion bid for the fourth-largest U.S.