5 Things You Should Know Before the Stock Market Opens

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open higher Monday after Spain reached a deal with eurozone finance ministers to prop up the country's ailing banks with ¿100 billion ($125 billion) of funds.

European shares rose, with Spain's stock market leaping 5% in trading Monday. Once audits are completed, Spain said it would specify how much of the ¿100 billion it would need to tap.

Asian stocks finished with gains Monday following better-than-expected data that showed China's exports jumped in May from a year earlier. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 2% to close at 8,624.90.

U.S. stocks ended last week with gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 93 points, or 0.75%, to close at 12,554 on Friday; the blue-chip index finished the week up 3.6%.

---

The economic calendar in the U.S. on Monday is empty, but some of the more notable reports this week include the Treasury budget on Tuesday, retail sales on Wednesday and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index on Friday.

---

Apple (AAPL) kicks off Monday its Worldwide Developers' Conference, where the tech giant is expected to launch several new products, including new computers and a new mobile operating system.

Apple's next mobile operating system, iOS 6, is expected to be one of the main attractions at the event.

---

General Electric (GE) is considering breaking off big chunks of its lending business, GE Capital, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Top executives are looking at possibly selling businesses in GE Capital's consumer-finance portfolio, such as private-label credit cards or showroom financing for products like snowblowers or lawn mowers, according to three people familiar with the company's thinking, the Journal said.

The moves reduce the size of GE Capital's loan portfolio by as much as 16%, according to the newspaper.

---

Goldman Sachs (GS) is close to signing a deal to sell its hedge fund administration business to State Street (STT), The Financial Times reported.

A sale would create the world's biggest administration services provider to hedge funds.

The newspaper said the companies are in late-stage discussions.

---

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [e-mail].