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Wall Street opened slightly higher Monday, as Ford Motor Co. posted rosy earnings and investors speculated that a report will show the manufacturing sector continuously expanded.
A surprise profit from Ford helped support the early gains. Ford said it earned nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter due to deep cost cuts and the government's Cash for Clunkers rebates.
Moreover, an index on manufacturing activity from the Institute for Supply Management is expected up to 53 in October, compared with 52.6 in September. If true, it would be the third straight month of growth after 18 months of contraction.
Investors also awaited the National Association of Realtors' index of pending home resales for September and a government report on construction spending.
Commercial lender CIT Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed. The market seemed unfazed about the bankruptcy, one of the biggest in U.S. corporate history, as the lender has been struggling for months to restructure its debt, which has been priced in.
The Dow Jones rose 38.39 to 9,751.12. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.82 to 1,042.01 and the Nasdaq climbed 5.24 to 2,050.35.