(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, as a jump in oil prices could buoy energy shares, but volumes were expected to remain thin with few investors at work between the Christmas and New Year breaks.
At 0910 GMT (4:10 a.m. EST), S&P 500 March futures were up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures were up 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1 percent.
Oil gained as much as 5.6 percent to nearly $40 a barrel in the wake of weekend violence between Israel and Hamas, rekindling geopolitical fears surrounding crude supplies from the Middle East.
Mining shares will also be in focus after copper futures prices in London and Shanghai rose more than 2 percent as traders hunted bargains following gains in oil prices and a fall in the dollar.
The Chicago Fed Midwest manufacturing index for November was the only piece of macro data expected on Monday, while no S&P 500 company was due to report earnings.
Dow Chemical
The cancellation of the deal, which had met opposition in Kuwait's parliament, was acknowledged by Dow, which had planned to use the proceeds to repay a large part of $13 billion in debt it will have to shoulder once its acquisition of Rohm & Haas closes. Shares in Dow Chemical in Frankfurt
A consortium of private equity and hedge fund firms, including J.C. Flowers & Co, is close to a deal to buy the assets of failed mortgage lender IndyMac, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The consortium would buy the bank and its 33 branches, IndyMac's reverse-mortgage unit and a $176 billion loan-servicing portfolio, the source said.
U.S. stocks rose on light volume on Friday as energy stocks gained ground alongside oil prices while General Motors
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
