Stock futures point to slightly higher open

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures edged higher on Monday in what is expected to be a light trading week ahead of Thursday's Christmas holiday as investors look ahead to corporate earnings and details on retail sales.

One of the country's largest drug store chains, Walgreen Co, posted earnings below forecasts and oil prices stabilized on Monday, which could ease fears of weakening global demand.

"With the auto-package having been cleared and Christmas around the corner the next point of focus investors will be gearing up for a potentially interesting earnings season," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group in Princeton, New Jersey.

"Too low an oil price is on investors' minds. The question is: What is the next focal point? It will turn on the consumer Christmas sales."

Oil rose 0.8 percent to $42.70 on the new contract after settling at $33.87 on Friday, its lowest level since February 10, 2004.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.3 points and were slightly below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 17 points, and Nasdaq 100 gained 7 points, and were near flat in terms of fair value.

Walgreen reported first-quarter earnings that were below analysts' expectations and said that comparable store sales rose 1.6 percent in the period.

Walgreen's shares slumped 5.6 percent to $24.61 in premarket trade.

Shares of American International Group rose 6.3 percent to $1.70 after the company agreed to sell its HSB Group to German reinsurer Munich Re for $742 million.

Underscoring the weak economic climate, engineering firm Roper Industries lowered its fourth-quarter outlook to 73 to 76 cents a share, citing lower demand in two units and unfavorable moves in foreign exchange. Sysco said that it sees flat to slightly negative year-over-year sales comparison for the food maker's second quarter.

Sysco shares slumped 4.2 percent to $23.07 in premarket trade.

Stocks in Europe and Asia were lower after weak export data in Japan confirmed fears about the weak global economy.

Toyota Motor Co <7203.T>, the world's biggest automaker, forecast its first group operating loss due to a relentless global slide in car sales and a crippling rise in the yen, which undermined shares of automakers.

U.S. traded shares of Toyota were down 1.4 percent to $63.50 in premarket trade. General Motors slid 6 percent to $4.22 while Ford shed 1 percent to $2.92.

With just seven trading days remaining in the year, there is little hope for the markets to avoid having their worst yearly performance since the 1930s. The S&P 500 is down 39.5 percent for the year.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Friday after the U.S. government said it would throw a $17.4 billion lifeline to automakers grappling with falling consumer demand.

The Dow ended lower, pulled down by another fall in energy shares, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil as oil sank for the sixth day in a row on fears the anemic economy will swamp demand.

There is no major U.S. economic data due to be released on Monday.

(Editing by Tom Hals)

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