US stocks edge higher as investors await big week for earnings

• US stocks edged higher on Monday as investors await a flood of first quarter earnings this week.
• A third of the S&P 500 will report earnings this week, including Tesla, Apple, and Alphabet.
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

US stocks edged higher on Monday as investors anticipate a flood of first quarter earnings that are set to be released this week, with about a third of the S&P 500 reporting earnings.

Mega-cap technology companies will headline this week's earnings announcements, with Tesla announcing after the bell on Monday, and Apple and Google parent Alphabet reporting later in the week.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Monday:

• S&P 500: 4,188.27, up 0.2%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 34,093.15, up 0.15% (49.66 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 14,050.75, up 0.26%

Copper prices soared on Monday, hitting their highest levels since 2011 as increasing demand to fuel a green-energy future outstrips supply, which has been rattled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bitcoin staged a deep correction over the weekend, falling below the $50,000 level for the first time in months. But buyers stepped in on Monday, pushing bitcoin up by more than 10% to $53,000.

Oil prices were lower. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5%, to $61.20 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped by 1.7%, to $64.98 per barrel.

Gold jumped 0.09%, to $1,779.30 per ounce.