Wall Street set to open higher ahead of U.S. factory data

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - Wall Street was poised to open higher on Monday ahead of data that is expected to show demand for U.S. factory orders rose in March, signaling that the manufacturing sector is strengthening despite a stronger dollar.

New orders for U.S.-made goods are expected to have risen 2 percent in March compared with a 0.2 percent increase in the prior month. The data is expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).

European shares rose, led by Germany after data showed the country's manufacturing sector continued to expand in April.

Factory activity in China in April recorded its biggest drop in a year, hardening the case for fresh stimulus from Beijing.

Wall Street closed sharply higher on Friday as investors snapped up beaten-down shares and an encouraging batch of data for April pointed to a pickup in the economy.

"Now that earnings are winding down, all the focus shifts to the Fed," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

"The markets are stubborn with nothing knocking them down, which frightens me more because you don't know when the correction will start."

S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 6 points and fair value - a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract - indicated a higher open.

Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures rose 54 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures added 13.25 points.

McDonald's shares fell 2 percent to $95.81 in premarket trading after the company laid out initial plans for lure back customers and boost sales.

Comcast rose 1.61 percent to $59.35 after the largest U.S. cable operator posted a better-than-expected profit.

Cisco slipped 0.5 percent to $29 after the company said Chief Executive John Chambers would step down to become executive chairman and 17-year company veteran Chuck Robbins will become CEO, effective July 26.

MGM Resorts fell 2.8 percent to $20.81 after its revenue came in below estimates.

Cognizant rose 4.4 percent to $61.75, after the IT services provider reported a better-than-expected rise in revenue and raised its full-year forecast.

(Editing by Savio D'Souza)