Companies reporting earnings on Monday include IBM.
Of the companies that have reported earnings so far, 70 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations, according to Reuters. Earnings are expected to show a decline of 2.1 percent for the quarter.
Optimism about the US economic outlook has led Morgan Stanley's chief US strategist Adam Parker to forecast a 10 percent rally in the S&P 500, adding to positive sentiment.
For commodities though it was another tough session. Crude slid below $50 a barrel in New York for the first time in more than three months amid concern an increase in Iranian exports will exacerbate worldwide excess supply.
Gold weakened, dropping to the lowest level in five years, triggered by selling in Shanghai on Monday and a lack of liquidity.
And the outlook is not much better for the precious metal, with the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's repeated comments that she expects the central bank to lift interest rates this year.
"Any increase in US interest rates should further strengthen the dollar, prompting more fund outflows from commodities, metals and emerging-market assets," Vattana Vongseenin, the chief executive officer of Phillip Asset Management in Bangkok, told Bloomberg.
Spot gold fell more than 4 percent to as low as US$1,088.05, though recovered to trade above US$1,100 recently. Shares of gold mining companies including Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining plunged as a result, each down more than 10 percent.
"We have breached significant support levels, we know US rate hikes are coming, there is no inflation and there is no catalyst to hold gold when other markets are doing better," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar told Reuters.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day with a 0.3 percent increase from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent, while Germany's DAX climbed 0.5 percent.
At least for now concerns over Greece's fiscal future have abated. As expected local banks there reopened on Monday.
