NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks could get a lift from further declines in oil in early trading, although concerns about the economy could keep equities from continuing their recent rally.

U.S. stock futures were slightly up at about 8 a.m. ET, after being mixed in earlier in the morning, indicating a rising expection of a higher open.

Oil prices were down again in early trading, continuing the slide that helped lift stocks through much of last week.

The July light crude contract lost 41 cents to $48.24 a barrel in electronic trading, while the July contract for Brent crude fell 32 cents to $47.71.

John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Securities, said that while there has been nervousness about some of the economic readings due this week, the continued fall in oil prices was again becoming the dominant issue for many investors.

"As traders are starting to walk in, a lot of people are focusing on oil," he said. "People are getting optimistic about inflation and the chance that the Federal Reserve will stop raising rates after the June 30 meeting."

Investors are likely to be looking ahead to Tuesday afternoon, when the Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its meeting earlier this month. Those minutes have gotten increasing attention recently, as investors try to determine if policy makers are more concerned about inflation or slow economic growth in determining the pace of future interest rate hikes.

This week will also bring reports on both existing and new home sales, a revision of gross domestic product growth in the first quarter as well as readings on personal income and spending.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Monday, while major European markets were higher in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.13 percent from the 4.12 percent level late Friday. The dollar gained on the euro but lost ground on the yen.

In corporate news, Apple Computer (Research) has held talks to use Intel (Research) chips in its Macintosh line, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The report said it's not clear if such a move will be made, or what it would mean for IBM (Research), Apple's long time chip supplier.

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