Stock Futures Tick Up After Tumultuous January

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U.S. stock-index futures climbed on Monday after the worst annual kick off in four years as traders braced for fresh data on the American economy.

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As of 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 43 points, or 0.28%, to 15673, S&P 500 futures climbed 4.8 points, or 0.27%, to 1781 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 8.3 points, or 0.24%, to 3522.

January was a tough month. The S&P 500 slid 3.6% in the broad market average's worst month since May 2012 and its worst January since 2010.

The tumble was driven by worries about intense volatility in emerging-market currencies, coupled with brewing trouble in China.

"Global stocks remain on the weak side, with risk appetite waning in conjunction with weakness in EM uncertainty regarding central bank policy and evidence of further slowdown in China," analysts at Nomura wrote to clients on Monday.

Indeed, an official reading on China's manufacturing sector showed the factory sector in the world's No. 2 economy is barely growing. The PMI gauge came in at 50.5 in January from 51 in December.

"We think that some part of the weakness was due to the Chinese New Year holiday. However, together with the HSBC/ Markit reading, it is getting clearer that the economic slowdown has begun again," Wei Yao, an analyst at Societe Generale wrote in an email to clients.

On the economic docket Monday is a closely-watched report on the U.S. manufacturing sector. Economists expect the Institute for Supply Management's PMI metric to fall to 56 in January from 57 the month before. The all-important monthly jobs report from the Labor Department is also due out on Friday.

Automakers like Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Fiat's Chyrsler reveal monthly sales figures on Monday.

In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 8 cents, or 0.08%, to $97.58 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline slid 1.3% to $2.627 a gallon. Gold jumped $8.10, or 0.66%, to $1,248 a troy ounce.