What to expect from the US equities today

U.S. stock markets were poised for a strong start on Monday amid hopes of progress on talks to avert a debt default in Greece.

The European Union on Monday welcomed new proposals from Athens as a "good basis for progress" at talks later in the day where Greece and its global creditors hope to secure an eleventh-hour deal to pull the cash-strapped country back from brink of bankruptcy.

Optimism about a deal on Greece set the tone for global stock markets – European shares soared in early trade, with stock markets in Germany and France more than 2 percent higher.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday ahead of a summit next week that could decide whether Greece will need to print its own currency and ditch the euro. 

Utilities led the S&P 500 decline in percentage terms, down 1 percent as a group after gaining 2.7 percent over the previous three sessions. For the week, the Dow gained 0.6 percent, the S&P added 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq, which had closed at a record high on Thursday, rose 1.3 percent. 

KB Home rose 9.4 percent to $16.37 after the homebuilder's quarterly results beat estimates. 

Finally, the DJIA finished down 0.56% at 18014.28, S&P 500 finished down 0.54% at 2109.71 and the NASDAQ­100 finished down 0.41% at 4513.43.