US pre-open: Last-minute Christmas trading begins

US stock futures were looking up before the start of the week, as investors appeared to forget about low oil prices and get a bit of last-minute Christmas shopping in.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up approximately 142 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session 19 and 42 points higher respectively.

As the wind down to Christmas begins, there isn’t much data expected on Monday, with the Chicago Fed National Activity Index due at 1330 GMT.

Technology losses drive Asia markets down

Elsewhere, mega technology losses were top of the news bulletins in Asia on Monday, as Toshiba Corporation revealed it expected a record loss for the year.

The Japanese electronics giant said it was looking at an annual loss of JPY 550bn (£3bn), amid a climate of declining sales. Total sales for the year were projected at JPY 6.2trn, down 6.8%.

Toshiba put the wider loss down to restructuring costs and a deterioration in its semiconductor and infrastructure divisions. It planned to cut to 7,000 jobs in consumer electronics, while 5% of its global workforce could be culled by the end of the fiscal year.

It also planned to halt sales of televisions in markets outside Japan, and sell its TV assembling plant in Indonesia.

"By implementing and resolutely executing this action plan, Toshiba hopes to regain the trust of shareholders, investors and all stakeholders, and to achieve a strong corporate institution", the company said in a statement.

Most European stocks started the week higher, except for Spain’s markets as the election result points to an uncertain future.

Oil prices continued to fall, with West Texas Intermediate crude down 0.60% to $34.52, and Brent crude dropping 0.87% to $36.56 a barrel.

The dollar was up against all the main currencies, rising 0.07% and 0.02% on the pound and euro respectively and up 0.17% against the yen, while spot gold rose 0.60% to $1,072.60.

In company news, investors will be keep an eye on how L.M. Ericsson Telefon does when the Nasdaq opens after it surged in Europe on news the Swedish maker of telecom equipment had settled litigation with Apple Inc.

Despite the news that will see the iPhone maker pay a patent royalty to use L.M. Ericsson Telefon’s mobile technology, the California-based tech giant was up 1.4% in trading before the bell.