NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks were primed for a higher open Monday after the Dow closed Friday with its first weekly decline in five weeks.

However, any gains could be anemic, analysts said, due to the light smattering of economic and earnings news and even lighter volume, typical of August trading.

At around 8:45 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a higher open for the major indexes.

After posting minor gains for the previous month, the Dow turned lower last week, with lackluster economic reports creating worries about the much hoped for economic recovery.

"We still believe the U.S. economy is beginning to pick up speed but, near term, there is little to shift equities out of their summer torpor with the coming week relatively light on economic data," Rupert Thompson, global strategist at ETrade Securities told Reuters.

For last week's wrapup, click above

Among the events influencing Monday trade: June factory orders and the latest news from Verizon and General Electric.

European markets rose in midday trading, partly boosted by strength in No. 2 world bank HSBC Securities, which posted better-than-expected results. Asian stocks fell Monday, hurt by concerns about the U.S. economy; Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 1.7 percent. (Check the latest on world markets)

Treasury prices recovered in the early going, with the yield on the ten-year note falling to 4.35 percent in European trade. Treasurys had fallen back to one-year lows periodically over the last week in response to the economic news, but seemed stronger early Monday. The dollar edged lower versus the yen and euro.

The government's report on June factory orders is the only major economic report of the day. It comes shortly after trading begins and it's expected to come in with a 1.5 percent gain, compared with a 0.4 percent increase in May.

Talks between Verizon Communications and two unions will continue later Monday in an effort to keep 80,000 workers from walking off the job. A union spokesman said "substantial progress" was made in Sunday's negotiations. The unions had set a strike deadline of midnight ET Saturday, but continued talking past that point.

Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Verizon (VZ: Research, Estimates) shares were slightly higher.

In addition, shares of General Electric (GE: up $0.02 to $28.46, Research, Estimates) could be active. The Wall Street Journal reported that GE held final talks on Sunday night to sell its financial guaranty business for about $2.16 billion to a group led by mortgage insurer PMI Group (PMI: down $0.36 to $32.77, Research, Estimates).

In the latest on Vivendi (V: down $0.45 to $16.99, Research, Estimates), the New York Post reports that another potential buyer of its entertainment assets, John Malone, has backed out. Last week, MGM withdrew itself from consideration, saying the price was too high.

In the day's deals, Ascential Software (ASCL: down $0.27 to $16.00, Research, Estimates) said it would buy rival Mercator Software (MCTR: down $0.01 to $2.45, Research, Estimates) for $106 million to expand in the market for software allowing different computer systems to communicate.

In morning brokerage news, J.P. Morgan upgraded Borders Group (BGP: down $0.16 to $17.64, Research, Estimates) to "overweight" from "neutral" saying it sees signs of a pick-up in the book sellers business later in the year.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) -- which represents semiconductor makers that account for about 90 percent of U.S. production -- on Monday released its monthly sales data. Worldwide sales rose 0.3 percent in June to $12.54 billion from May results. For the second quarter, sales rose to $37.6 billion from the first quarter, up 3.2 percent quarter-over-quarter and up 10.4 percent from a year earlier.

The week is light on earnings, with 400 of the S&P 500 members having already reported results. Among the few companies reporting quarterly results before trading begins U.S. Steel (X: Research, Estimates) reported a narrower than expected loss, excluding charges. The company saw a profit a year earlier. More influential reports are due later in the week, including Cisco Systems after the close Tuesday.

Bulls will be rooting for the Dow Jones industrial average to bounce off last week's 1.4 percent decline, which included Friday's 80-point slide on disappointing jobs and manufacturing reports. The Nasdaq composite index was also lower last week, by about 0.9 percent, aided by a 19-point loss Friday. (see chart for details)

Brent oil futures retreated 31 cents to $29.68 a barrel in London, where gold fell below $350 an ounce.  

-- Reuters contributed to this report.