Optimism surrounding interest rate prospects may support early gains on Wall Street after Friday's softer than anticipated jobs report.

Following the weaker employment figures for August, CME Group's FedWatch Tool now shows about a 90.1 percent probability of a quarter point rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.

Trading volumes could stay light overall, with participants awaiting fresh inflation figures that may shape rate expectations.

The Labor Department plans to issue producer price data on Wednesday and consumer price data on Thursday.

Analysts forecast the yearly producer price increase for August to remain steady at 3.3 percent, matching July's pace.

Consumer prices are projected to rise at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in August, up from 2.7 percent the prior month, while core consumer prices excluding food and energy are seen holding at 3.1 percent.

Stocks initially attempted gains on Friday but soon faced selling pressure, with major averages retreating from fresh intraday peaks into negative territory.

The benchmarks recovered much of their losses later yet finished lower overall. The Dow dropped 220.43 points or 0.5 percent to 45,400.86, the S&P 500 declined 20.58 points or 0.3 percent to 6,481.50, and the Nasdaq slipped 7.31 points or under 0.1 percent to 21,700.39.

Over the full week the averages posted mixed results, with the Nasdaq advancing 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 gaining 0.3 percent while the Dow eased 0.3 percent.

Asian markets traded mostly higher on Monday, as Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.5 percent and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4 percent.

European bourses also opened higher, with France's CAC 40 up 0.5 percent, Germany's DAX advancing 0.4 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gaining 0.2 percent.

Crude oil futures climbed $1.25 to $63.12 per barrel after dropping $1.61 to $61.87 the previous session, while gold futures edged up $4.30 to $3,657.60 an ounce following a $46.60 jump to $3,653.30.

The dollar traded at 147.73 yen compared with 147.43 yen at Friday's New York close, and versus the euro it stood at $1.1734 after $1.1717.