US equity futures were higher pre-bell Monday as traders looked ahead to a fresh batch of quarterly earnings updates from Corporate America due for release this week, including from major retailers.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.3%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.5%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.7%.

Target (TGT), Costco (COST), Kroger (KR), Macy's (M), and AutoZone (AZO) are scheduled to report earnings later this week, among others.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.5% at $73.20 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.5% at $70.11 per barrel.

S&P Global's manufacturing purchasing managers' index, scheduled for release at 9:45 am ET, is seen coming in unchanged from the initial estimate at 51.6 in the final reading for February, according to forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index, due at 10 am ET, is expected to come in at 50.6 for February versus 50.9 in January. Meanwhile, a 0.1% downtick is expected for Construction Spending for January versus a 0.5% gain previously.