U.S. stocks traded mostly higher early Monday, after posting their best month in four years, as investors eyed earnings and a heavy week of economic reports. Goldman Sachs and Chevron contributed the most to gains in the Dow Jones industrial average, which added 100 points in mid-morning trade. Health care led nearly all S&P 500 sectors higher. Earlier, the major averages opened little changed, with the Dow briefly dipping into negative territory as Visa weighed. The stock traded about 2.7 percent lower after falling more than 3.5 percent in morning trade. The credit card issuer reported earnings that missed on revenue that slightly topped expectations. Visa also announced the purchase of Visa Europe for about $18.2 billion and authorized a new $5 billion share repurchase program. "I think what's going on is we had some pretty good manufacturing data out of Europe and that gave futures a boost," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. In U.S. economic news, October ISM manufacturing was 50.1, slightly beating expectations of 50.0 but posting a fourth-straight monthly decline, Reuters said. Construction spending rose 0.6 percent in September. The final read on October manufacturing PMI hit a 6-month high at 54.1, according to Markit. Treasury yields held higher, with the 10-year at 2.17 percent and the 2-year at 0.74 percent. The U.S. dollar traded mildly lower against major world currencies, with the euro near $1.10 and the yen at 120.57 yen against the greenback. The key report for the week is the October nonfarm payrolls report due Friday. Ahead of the open, Dow futures were up about 50 points, after Markit said the final read on October euro zone manufacturing PMI at 52.3, topping the flash and September print of 52.0. European stocks traded higher, with the DAX up nearly 1 percent, amid some key earnings reports from HSBC, Commerzbank and Ryanair. Asian stocks closed lower after Chinese manufacturing indices continued to show contraction. However, the preliminary Caixin China manufacturing PMI did beat expectations, rising to 48.3 in October, above expectations and September's 47.2 print. China's official PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics was 49.8 for October, unchanged from the previous month but missing expectations of 50.0. "You've got a stabilization in the deceleration of China data and the European markets are handling that pretty nicely," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. He and other analysts also noted support for Monday's gains from positive momentum following stellar October performance. U.S. stocks ended lower Friday, near session lows, but closed out their best month in four years as a recovery in oil prices and hopes of easy monetary policy supported gains. In corporate news, HP Inc. (HPQ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) began trading as separate companies Monday, following the split of Hewlett-Packard into two. Earnings season winds down with fewer names reporting this week. AIG and Fitbit are among those posting results after the bell. In mid-morning trade, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 86 points, or 0.5 percent, at 17,749, with Pfizer leading advancers and Visa the greatest laggard. The S&P 500 traded up 11 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,091, with health care leading eight sectors higher and telecommunications and utilities the only decliners. The Nasdaq gained 37 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,090. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 15. About five stocks advanced for every two decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 126 million and a composite volume of 472 million in mid-morning trade. Crude oil futures for December delivery fell 25 cents to $46.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $7.50 to $1,133.90 an ounce as of 10:10 a.m. Source: CNBC
