U.S. stock futures were pointing to a higher open for Wall Street, with key housing data and some renewed worries for banks in focus for investors.
S&P 500 futures were up 7.3 points to 883.40, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 12.5 points to 1,411. Dow industrials futures were 57 points higher at 8,238.
After record gains in April, investors will be keen to see what May will bring.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ) advanced 44.29 points to 8,212.41, giving the blue chips a weekly gain of 1.7%.
The S&P 500 climbed 4.71 points to 875.45, which translated into a 1.3% gain from last Friday's close.
The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.90 points to 1,719.20, giving it a 1.5% weekly advance.
Analysts are worried those gains could be fragile, particularly as much of the rally was attributed to quarterly corporate results that proved better than expected.
On the docket for Monday, pending home sales for March are due to be released at 10 a.m. Eastern. Construction spending for March will also be released at the same time. The biggest piece of economic data comes Friday, with the March nonfarm-payroll report.
Banks are also in focus for Monday, after reports that Bank of America and Citigroup are working on plans to raise more than $10 billion each in capital after preliminary findings of the U.S. stress test on banks, according to media reports.
However, the two banks as well as two other lenders, will attempt to persuade the Treasury and the Federal Reserve that the findings of the stress tests into their financial health were too pessimistic, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people close to the situation.
The results of the government's Supervisory Capital Assessment Program, otherwise known as the "stress test," imposed on 19 major banks will be released Thursday, though the original release date was Monday. The Federal Reserve has already said that "most U.S. banking organizations" had enough capital.
Shares of Citigroup were up 4% in pre-open trade, while Bank of America was down 0.2%.
The earnings schedule for Monday is relatively light, with Sprint Nextel , McKessonand Tyson Foods among those due to report.
Automakers may be in focus again. The chairman of Italian auto group Fiat said in an Italian newspaper over the weekend that he's considering an alliance with Germany's Opel, which is owned by General Motors , the U.S. auto giant that is facing potential bankruptcy.
Shares of Fiat were up nearly 8% in Italy, while most other European automakers were also higher.
European stocks were generally higher, though British markets were closed for a holiday. Asia markets also moved surged overnight.
In the absence of Tokyo, closed for a holiday, several regional indexes, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Singapore, gained more than 5% amid signs of improvement in the region's economies.
Gold futures, meanwhile, were up 0.5% to $892, while light sweet crude-oil futures were down 9 cents to $53.11.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond edged up 1.2 basis points to 3.15%.
The dollar was trading mostly little changed against the euro and the Japanese yen.
