Stock futures edge higher as "cliff" talks continue

Equity futures were slightly higher at the beginning of electronic trading on Sunday night as talks continued in Washington over resolving the "fiscal cliff."

S&P 500 futures were up 3.7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1387.70 shortly after electronic trading opened at 6 pm ET 2300 GMT.

Stocks fell sharply on Friday, with significant losses in the last minutes of trading, as prospects for a deal on the impasse in Washington worsened at the start of the weekend.

Efforts to prevent the U.S. economy from hitting the "fiscal cliff" stalled on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans remained at odds over a deal that would prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day.

(Reporting by David Gaffen; editing by Christopher Wilson)