Stock futures slightly higher ahead of "cliff" deadline

Stock futures rose on Monday, setting up Wall Street to snap a five-session losing streak as talks continued in Washington over resolving the "fiscal cliff".

* European markets were slightly down on Monday morning, although trading was muted as markets in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were closed while UK, French, Dutch and Spanish markets were only open for half a session.

* The CBOE Volatility Index rose to its highest level since June on Friday, closing at 22.72.