Before the bell:

U.S. stocks were poised to open slightly higher Monday, as investors mull over a slew of corporate deals, and await resolution on the tax-cut deal from Washington
Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all up modestly ahead of the opening bell.

On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at a two-year high, as stocks advanced on upbeat economic news and a dividend hike by General Electric.

World markets:

China's economy has been booming, fueling fears of an imminent interest rate hike. There has been wide speculation for several weeks that China's government would raise interest rates to slow the economic growth. So far, that rate hike has yet to be announced.
Economy: No major economic reports are scheduled to be released Monday. However, a raft of reports on unemployment, consumer prices and new home construction will be released later in the week.
Companies: Investors have a slew of corporate deals to chew on.
General Electric (GE) offered $1.3 billion for Wellstream Holdings PLC (WSM), an engineer and manufacturer of products for oil and gas transportation in the subsea production industry. Shares of GE edged higher in premarket trading.
Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), the parent company of Thermo Scientific and Fisher Scientific, announced that it would acquire Dionex Corporation (DNEX), a leading manufacturer and marketer of chromatography systems, for about $2.1 billion, or $118.50 per share in cash. Thermo Fisher's offer represents a 21% premium to Dionex's closing stock price on Dec. 10.
Also, Dell (DELL) announced that it has purchased data storage company Compellent Technologies, Inc. (CML) for $27.75 per share in cash. Last Thursday, Dell announced it was in talks with Compellant about a potential deal. Shares of Dell fell 1.4% in premarket trade, while shares of Compellent slid nearly 2% in premarket trade.
Oil for January delivery gained $1.28 cents to $89.07 a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $8.20 to $1,393.10 an ounce.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged down slightly, pushing the yield up to 3.38%.