Guest Post: Monday

US markets open the session with slight gains as business inventories rose 0.1% during May.

Commodities are mixed with metals trading slightly higher and energy lower.

Asian markets registered overnight gains with both the Hang Seng and the Shanghai composite trading higher. In Japan, the Nikkei was closed for Marine Day. China's second quarter GDP rose 1.7% quarter-over-quarter while the year-over-year figure climbed 7.5% as expected. This eased some fears of a deeper slowdown following the Finance Minister's comments of growth as slow as 6.5% last week.

European markets trade near their lows after early session gains. Spain's IBEX lags the rest of the regional indices after weekend protests called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy due to evidence of a kickback scheme.

In US corporate news, AT&T has agreed to acquire Leap Wireless for $15 per share.

Citigroup trades higher after reporting an earnings beat, leading Financials to be the top performer this morning.

Industrials got a boost from Boeing after reports indicated the Friday fire on the 787 Dreamliner was not due to battery issues.

Quarterly earnings are ready to kick off this week.

The 10-year yield sits at 2.55% and the VIX remains flat at 13.93.

Written by: Nicholas Mueller