Wall Street stocks were lifted early Monday, following European equities higher after an Italian bank rescue plan lifted European and U.S. financial giants.

The Italian government's 17-billion-euro ($19-billion) rescue deal of a pair of troubled banks addresses an issue that had been seen as another potential problem for the Eurozone. Shares of European banks such as Commerzbank and BNP Paribas rose, along with U.S. giants JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Sentiment also was boosted by oil prices, which edged higher again after falling to multi-month lows last week.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 21,491.65, up 0.5 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.5 percent to 2,449.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 percent to 6,301.60.

U.S. durable goods orders fell 1.1 percent in May due to a drop in sales of civilian aircraft.

U.S. shares of Nestle shot up 3.4 percent after activist U.S. hedge fund Third Point took a one percent stake and promptly called on the food giant to sell its 23 percent stake in L'Oreal, valued at more than $25 billion.