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With little economic data due out during the first half of this week and earnings results slowing to a trickle, US and other investors are looking for other cues to give the markets direction.

Investors will get a handful of economic reports toward the end of the week that should provide some insight into the health of the economy.

Reports on wholesale and business inventories, retail sales and consumer sentiment are all scheduled for release beginning Wednesday and running through the rest of the week.

Major indexes all jumped more than a percent on Friday after the US Labor Department said employers cut fewer jobs in February than predicted. The unemployment rate also held steady at 9.7 percent.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast it would rise to 9.8 percent.

The encouraging signs in the report have investors hopeful that employers will start to add jobs in the coming months.

High unemployment has been a major stumbling block to a strong, sustained recovery.

If more people can return to the work force, that should help boost consumer spending, which is the primary driver of economic activity in the country.

US stocks rallied last week on encouraging economic data, including a better-than-expected employment report, and a new wave of corporate deal making. The recent surge in corporate mergers and acquisitions continued on Monday. Insurer American International Group reached a deal to sell one of its major foreign subsidiaries to MetLife for $15.5 billion.

The deal, though, did not come as a surprise.

Elsewhere, stocks gained on Monday as a better-than-expected report about the US job market boosted confidence in the economic recovery.

Major markets added as much as 2 percent in the region’s second day higher. The euro got a boost after France voiced support for debt-laden Greece, while oil prices edged toward $82 a barrel.

As in the US, investors in Asia welcomed Friday’s news the US economy lost fewer jobs than expected last month. Employers cut 36,000 jobs last month, better than the 50,000 cuts predicted. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.7 percent.

Investors were encouraged after French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised European support for Greece through a debt crisis that has jeopardized all 16 nations in the zone.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.2 percent. Elsewhere, Australia’s market was up 0.7 percent, Shanghai shares gained 0.8 percent and Indian stocks were 1 percent higher.

The dollar was little changed at 90.42 yen. The euro rose to $1.3679 from $1.3629.

 

JG, AP, Reuters