Oil stocks are set to lead the market higher, after Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi was given the push, sending oil prices higher.
The new oil minister is Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco.
West Texas intermediate for June delivery was trading 10 cents higher at $44.75 in early trading.
On the index front, spread betting quotes suggest the Dow Jones will kick-off about 30 points up from Friday's close of 17,741. The broader-based S&P 500 is heading for a rise of around four points at the outset, having closed on Friday at 2,057.
On the corporate front the focus will be results from heavy hitters Sothebys (NYSE:BID), the auction house, and Tyson Foods, Inc (NYSE:TSN), the food producer.
The latter has announced a 27% year-on-year increase in fiscal second quarter earnings.
Earnings per share of $1.07 topped analysts' expectations by 11 cents.
The shares were up a little bit less than 5% in pre-market trading.
In contrast, Sothebys was down more than 5% as it posted a loss of $25.9mln for its fiscal first quarter, having a made a profit of $5.2mln in the corresponding quarter last year.