Following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 269 points.
Strength in overseas markets may carry over on to Wall Street amid reports of a possible U.S. tariff cut on Chinese goods.
Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
A report on consumer price inflation, due to be released later in the week, is likely to be in the spotlight as traders focus on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy tightening.
Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, largely offsetting the rally seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.
The major averages finished the session near their worst levels of the day. While the Nasdaq plunged 304.16 points or 2.5 percent to 12,012.73, the S&P 500 tumbled 68.28 points or 1.6 percent to 4,108.54 and the Dow slumped 348.58 points or 1.1 percent to 32,899.70.
With the pullback on the day, the major averages all moved lower for the holiday-shortened week. The Dow slid 0.9 percent, the Nasdaq shed 1 percent and the S&P 500 dove 1.2 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.3 percent.
The major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 1.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.46 to $118.41 a barrel after jumping $2 to $118.87 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after slumping $21.20 to $1,850.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $5.40 to $1,855.60 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 130.79 yen versus the 130.88 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0715 compared to last Friday's $1.0719.
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