Stocks set to take off

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock futures rose early Monday as investors eyed a comeback from the previous session's brutal selloff and crude prices extended their declines.

At 6:06 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were narrowly higher, suggesting gains at the start for Wall Street.

Stocks tanked on Friday, sending the blue-chip Dow lower about 2 percent, after a surge in the unemployment rate and weak jobs data fueled anxiety about a recession in the U.S.

At the same time, the prospect of a U.S. downturn also raised hopes the Federal Reserve will aggressively cut rates when it meets later this month.

Lower oil prices helped provide some positive sentiment. U.S. light crude slid below $98 a barrel in electronic trading early Monday after crossing the $100 a barrel threshold last week.

On the economic calendar, President Bush is due to speak about the economy. His speech comes amid word the White House is considering new measures to boost the economy.

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is also speaking. He will discuss the capital markets and the economy in New York.

In global trade, anxiety about the U.S. economy roiled stocks in Asia, where markets slumped. European stocks were flat in the early going.

The tech sector is in focus with the kickoff of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) opened the gadget show by announcing a string of movie and TV deals. Napster (NAPS) also said it would start selling music downloads as unprotected MP3 files.