Morning Outlook

Futures are heading north in the premarket as IBM posted strong numbers after the bell yesterday. Goldman Sachs (GS) posted so far this morning, however we also have Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) throughout the day. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 35 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,079. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.50, or 0.5 percent, to 1,201.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 8.00, or 0.4 percent, to 2,021.00. it is a quiet day on the street for economic news, but the corporate earnings will keep traders on their toes. We are actually seeing real profits and not cost cutting measures to boost bottom lines.

Wall Street reversed its downward trend on Monday as quarterly earnings by Citigroup (C) led a reversal of financials to lead the major averages higher. The blue chips gained 73.39, or 0.7 percent, to 11,092.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.39, or 0.5 percent, to 1,197.52, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.15, or 0.1 percent, to 2,480.11.

On the Corporate Front

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) saw its first quarter profit nearly double to $3.3 billion on strong trading revenue from free taxpayer funds. Revenue for the bad boy of Wall Street came in at 12.78 billion, while EPS registered $5.59 a share. Of course the pending legal charges damper the quarter, but GS has been fighting since Friday.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar rose 0.4940% at 92.8550 yen in the currency market. The euro stabilized, appreciating 0.0426% at $1.3495 while the pound gained 0.3280% to $1.5388. Gold advanced $6.30 at $1142.10, while silver soared 1.29% at $17.96. Light, sweet crude for expiring May contract regained lost footing by adding $1.16 to $82.61 on the NYMEX; a 1.42% gain.