U.S. stock index futures started the week higher on Monday after a strong jobs report last week underscored U.S. economic strength.

* The solid November employment report showed that the economy was strong enough to absorb a widely expected interest rate hike when the Federal Reserve meets on Dec. 15-16.

* The report came a day after Fed Chair Janet Yellen struck an upbeat note on the economy when she testified before lawmakers, describing how it had largely met the criteria for a rate hike.

* U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, giving the S&P 500 its biggest gain since early September.

* Traders see a 79 percent chance that the central bank will increase rates for the first time in nearly a decade, according to the CME Group's FedWatch.

* St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy at 12:30 p.m. ET (1430 GMT). Bullard is not a voting member of the central bank's policy setting committee.

* The Fed is scheduled to report the outstanding credit extended to American consumers at 3:30 p.m. ET. The figure for October is expected to have fallen to $20.00 billion from $28.92 billion in September.

* Oil prices edged closer to 2015 lows on Monday after OPEC's meeting ended last week without a reference to its output ceiling and a stronger dollar made it more expensive to hold crude positions. [O/R]

* Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) shares fell 9.1 percent to $510.00 in premarket trading, after the popular burrito chain warned that sales at established restaurants would fall in the fourth quarter due to the impact of an E. coli outbreak.

* Alcoa (AA.N) was up 1.9 percent at $9.52 after a Barron's article said the company's split could boost shares by 50 percent.

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Reuters