Stocks struggle after big hit

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks inched higher Monday morning, as investors crept back into select areas of the market after last week's rough start to 2008.

But gains were limited as investors continued to mull the threat of the economy falling into a recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and the broader S&P 500 (INX) index both added a few points in the early going. The Nasdaq (COMPX) composite was barely higher.

Friday brought a brutal end to a tough first week. The major gauges tumbled, with the Nasdaq losing nearly 100 points, its worst day in more than 6 years. The decline followed a weaker-than-expected December employment report, which revived worries that the economy could be heading into a recession.

Oil near $100 a barrel and gold at all-time highs last added to such fears last week.

But some of the selling pressure eased up Monday morning, as investors scooped up select shares hit last week, and geared up for comments from Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart, as well as President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson later in the day.

In corporate news, McDonald's is set to unveil its own coffee bars, complete with baristas, at its nearly 14,000 U.S. locations, taking on Starbucks' dominance, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shares of McDonald's inched higher.

Treasury prices climbed, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.87 percent from 3.89 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar slipped versus the yen and the euro.

U.S. light crude oil for February fell 45 cents to $97.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for February delivery fell 80 cents to $864.90 an ounce.