Stocks are indicated modestly higher, with light trading expected and little news to guide the market one way or the other. Thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at possible 15 point early gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Benchmarks finished mixed in Asia and are mostly higher in Europe before the exchanges open in New York. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped .2 percent, Japan’s Nikkei rallied 1.3 percent. A .8 percent gain in France’s CAC 40 Index is leading benchmarks higher across Europe.

In the US, energy, metals and miners might see early gains after gold gained $5.40 to $1111.20 an ounce and oil edged up 66 cents to $78.71 a barrel.

Airline stocks might lose some altitude as passengers now face tighter security measures after a terror attempt on a Northwest flight heading from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Dow component Kraft (KFT) is in focus after Italy’s Ferrero reiterated its interest in making a competing bid for Cadbury.

Beyond that, there isn’t much news to guide the action.

With no economic data on tap until Tuesday, the benchmark ten-year Treasury bond is down 10/32nd in thin trade. The ten-year Treasury now yields 3.84 percent.

The dollar gained .31 to 91.52 against the Japanese yen. The euro edged up .0004 to 1.44 against the buck.