Stocks are set to open modestly higher, but with little news to guide the morning action Monday. Less than thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at a possible 30 or 40 point early gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

With no economic data to guide the early action, stock index futures tracked European markets and commodities modestly higher. France’s CAC 440 added 1.1 percent, UK’s FTSE 1.3 percent, and Germany’s DAX .8 percent.

Crude oil edged up .45 to $73.81 a barrel and gold gained $7 to $1118.50 an ounce.

Wal-greens (WAG) shares rose 3.3 percent after the retailer reported quarterly earnings of 52 cents per share, which beat Street estimates by 4 cents. GE might help the Dow in early trading after the company, along with France’s Safran, won a multi-billion dollar contract to provide engines to a Chinese plane maker.

Dow components Intel (INTC) and Alcoa (AA) are higher on analyst upgrades. Barclay’s upgraded both to Overweight. AA was also upgraded at Morgan Stanley.

Retailers will be watched for signs consumers are being affected by the deluge of snowfall in the Northeast. Some of the health insurers could see action after the Senate gathered enough votes to approve the latest version of the healthcare reform bill, which will include a option to buy insurance from a non-profit that is currently available to some employees of the Federal government.

Bonds are taking a hit after Chinese officials said over the weekend that the world does not have enough dollars to keep buying Treasurys. The benchmark ten-year is down 17/32nd and yields 3.6 percent

The dollar gained .20 to 90.53 against the yen. The euro added .0050 to 1.4356 against the buck.