Stocks are indicated modestly higher, with help from strength in overseas markets and higher commodity prices Monday morning. About forty-five minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at a possible 20 or 30 point early gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stock market averages moved higher in Asia and Europe before the start of trading in New York. Shanghai’s Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both gained about .5 percent. A .75 percent advance in France’s CAC 40 is pacing a modest advance across Europe.

Global equity markets moved higher after a report showed Chinese exports increasing 18 percent last month. The larger-than-expected increase breaks a string of 13 declines and suggests that global demand for goods from China, now the world’s largest exporter, is improving.

In the US, this week’s economic calendar is backend loaded, with nothing of importance until Fed’s Beige Book Wednesday afternoon. Weekly jobless claims and retail sales numbers follow Thursday morning.

With little guide the early action, bonds aren’t moving much. The benchmark ten-year Treasury slipped 1/32nd and yields 3.84 percent.

The dollar lost .15 to 92.39 against the yen. The euro added .009 to 1.4520 against the buck.

Some of the energy names might see early strength after crude oil added 90 cents to $83.65 a barrel on the weaker dollar, strong Chinese export numbers. Metals and miners are likely to open higher after gold rallied $19.1 to $1158 an ounce and silver rose 38 cents to $18.85.

Among the other stocks to watch, Alcoa (AA) will see interest today ahead of earnings, due out after the closing bell. Homebuilder KB Homes (KBH) releases results tomorrow morning. Time Warner Cable (TWC) is up 3 percent after being mentioned positively in the latest issue of Barron’s. Arch Coal (ACI) jumped 5 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to OverWeight from UnderWeight.