Wall Street aims for positive start
Futures turn higher as crude prices fall back and dollar strengthens. Investors gear up for the first look at second-quarter earnings.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures edged higher Monday as investors returning from the three-day holiday weekend kept a cautious eye on upcoming corporate earnings but welcomed lower oil prices and a stronger dollar.
At 8:50 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a stronger open for Wall Street. U.S. markets were closed Friday for the July 4th holiday.
Stocks ended mixed in Thursday's abbreviated session following a weak June jobs report and a rise in interest rates in Europe. Record high oil prices and steep declines in General Motors' share price also weighed on the market last week.
Last week's selloff helped push the Dow and Nasdaq more than 20% off their most recent highs in October and March, respectively - officially putting the two indexes in bear market territory.
"With no economic data today, I think we may see a technical rebound as the market continues to track the price of oil and the currency markets," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.
Energy. Crude prices fell back from their all-time high as the dollar strengthened. U.S. crude for August delivery traded at $142.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $2.42 from Thursday's floor close. There was no floor trading in the U.S. Friday.
Retail gas prices rose overnight to a record high for the eighth consecutive day. The national average price for a gallon of gas edged higher to $4.108, according to a survey by AAA.
Earnings. Investors are likely to be on edge ahead of the start of earnings season, which unofficially kicks off when Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) reports results after the close Tuesday.
Analysts expect the aluminum producer to report a lower second-quarter profit, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. The Dow component's results are expected to be hurt by high commodity and energy costs.
Deal news. NBC Universal and two private equity firms said Sunday they have reached a deal to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications Inc. NBC Universal is a unit of GE (GE, Fortune 500).
German health care group Fresenius said Monday it will buy Schaumberg, Ill.-based APP Pharmaceuticals (APPX) in a deal valued as much as $4.6 billion.
Belgian brewer InBev, which has made an unsolicited takeover offer for Anheuser (BUD, Fortune 500), said Monday it wants to replace the entire Anheuser board.
Autos. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) is set to cut thousands of more jobs and sell more of its brands amid a deepening slump in auto sales, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Merrill. Financial firm Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) is considering selling its stakes in money manager BlackRock and information provider Bloomberg, according to published reports.
Other markets. In global trade, Asian markets ended higher. European shares rose in midday trading.
Bond prices rose. The benchmark 10-year note added 5/32 to 99 9/32, lowering its yield to 3.96%. The note yielded 3.97% on Thursday.
The euro fell against the dollar, buying $1.5648 in morning trade, down from $1.5712 late Friday in New York. The dollar bought ¥107.58 up from ¥106.68 on Friday.
Gold prices fell $7.50 to $926.10 an ounce in electronic, premarket trading. 
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