Asian Markets Strong Overnight, U.S. Markets Follow

The market is getting a boost in early trading, after day 2 of M&A news hitting the wires. Asian markets were strong overnight, with S. Korea +1.9% and Hong Kong +1.7%. Those are very healthy gains.

Our markets close early today (1pm EST), in advance of the July 4th holiday.

Bond yields are slightly lower, trading just below the 5.0% level. And oil is also down today, thought still above $70. But those should help improve sentiment for stock traders.

In the housing market, a report on pending home sales came in below expectations, showing continued weakness in housing. But yesterday, Treasury Secretary Paulson said that he thinks the housing market is at or near a bottom.

Financials are also getting a nice bounce, with the brokers leading the way. More importantly, if you look at an index of leading stocks (like the IBD 100), they have really been outpacing the major indexes recently. This is the best sign of the health of this market.