NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lower oil prices and the start of the Israel-Hezbollah cease fire could combine to give U.S. stocks a solid jolt upward at the start of trading Monday.

At 7:45 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, indicating a strong gain for the major indexes.

Oil was lower, due to the cease fire as well as BP's announcement late Friday that it will be able to keep half the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, oilfield operating while replacing corroded pipelines. U.S. light crude was down $1.16 to $73.19 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude in London slipped $1.29 to $74.34.

David Kelly, economic advisor for Putnam Investments, said that while BP's ability to keep some of the Alaskan supply flowing is important, the cease fire is more important to markets Monday.

"It's important that holds because there isn't a Plan B. The longer and stronger it holds, the better it is for the markets," said Kelly.

"Markets hate uncertainity, and if the fighting resumes, the greater the chance of the conflict spreading to Iran," he added. "But oil could fall below $70 a barrel within a week or two if the cease fire holds."

Treasury prices eased, with the 10-year note yield rising to 4.99 percent from 4.97 percent late Friday.

Stocks closed mostly higher in Asia, although Japanese markets closed early due to a blackout in Tokyo. Major markets in Europe were higher in early trading. The dollar was higher against the yen but lower against the euro.

In corporate news, Microsoft (Charts) plans to introduce software that it hopes will dramatically simplify the creation of basic games for the Xbox 360 game console, an effort to turn game players into game creators.

Pepsico (Charts) announced that Chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund, who led the company past Coca-Cola in terms of market capitalization for the first time, will retire in March. Chief Financial Officer Indra Nooyi will assume the CEO job this October.

More news on U.S. markets ahead of the open.