By Yashaswini Swamynathan
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open slightly higher on Monday as oil prices rose and investors assessed the recent record-setting rally in the past weeks.
Oil prices fluctuated in choppy trading, but remained around the $47 mark as speculation intensified that oil producers may try to work out ways to support prices in an oversupplied market.
Global stocks rose, with the Chinese blue-chip index jumping to a seven-month high on growing optimism of additional stimulus from China, following a series of weak economic data.
Wall Street closed little changed on Friday as weak retail-sales numbers dampened the prospects of economic expansion, even as the Nasdaq inched up to a fresh record close.
A strong monthly jobs report on Aug 5 boosted optimism about the U.S. economy, driving all three major indexes to close at record levels last Thursday, their first since 1999. The S&P 500 index has notched 12 record intraday highs since July.
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"The markets seem to be consolidating near all-time highs, digesting their gains, while looking for additional clues to fuel the movement," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital.
Dow e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.18 percent at 8:23 a.m. ET, with 9,777 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.21 percent, with 96,788 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.2 percent, on volume of 11,628 contracts.
Investors are awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting for more clues on when it would raise interest rates. The minutes are due on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
Robust labor market data and better-than-expected quarterly earnings of U.S. companies could prod the central bank to raise rates sometime this year.
However, traders remain skeptical of a rate hike as U.S. inflation remains below the Fed's 2 percent target and central banks worldwide unleash stimulus programs to support their economies.
The odds of a hike stand at 9 percent for September and rise to about 41 percent for December, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
Activision Blizzard's shares rose 2.6 percent to $42.23 in premarket trading after billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund bought 3 million shares of the gaming company. The stock was the top percentage gainer among S&P 500 components.
Cyberark was down 2.7 percent at $51.50 after Goldman Sachs removed the stock from its "buy" list.
Post Properties rose 12.4 percent after agreeing to be bought by Mid-America Apartment Communities for about $3.88 billion. Mid-America's shares fell 3 percent to $98.95.
Valeant rose 2.6 percent to $25.57 after Mizuho raised the stock's rating to "neutral" from "underperform".
Sysco was up 5.7 percent after the company reported a 10 percent rise in fourth-quarter sales.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)