Stocks were on the rise this morning after the Commerce Department reported increases in pending home sales as well as increases in construction spending.

As of 9:48 Iowa time, the Dow Jones industrial average had gained 148 points, or 1.8 percent, and the Standard and Poor 500 index added 16 points, or 1.9 percent. The Nasdaq composite rose 25 points, or 1.5 percent.

However, the release of the banking stress test results is likely to disturb the markets later in the week. The federal government is expected to release the results of its 19 stress tests, which were conducted on the nation’s largest banks, on Thursday. The stress test results were expected to be released today, but were delayed, government officials familiar with the matter said last Friday. The results are expected to provide information on individual companies as well as give an overall group result for all financial institutions.

Additionally, uncertainty in the automobile industry will likely have an effect on the market. Last week, Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy, but has since reached a deal to combine the company with Fiat in order to allow Chrysler to stay in business.

Fiat also announced today that its CEO has prepared a pitch to bid for Opel as part of a planned takeover of General Motor Corp.’s European assets, Reuters reported.

Fiat said in a statement yesterday that it could seek a merger of its auto group with GM’s European unit, then spin off and list the combined entity, which it said would have annual sales of about $106.3 billion.