On Monday U.S. stock index futures fell as volume returned to markets after the New Year holiday, with energy shares sliding again as crude prices fell to fresh 5-1/2 year lows, as Reuters reports.
A measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies .DXY hit its highest since December 2005.
Commodities are likely to be pressured further by the strength in the U.S. dollar.
Crude oil futures prices plunged to their lowest since May 2009 amid a global supply glut and lackluster demand. Russia's oil output hit a post-Soviet high last year, and Iraq's oil exports were at the highest since 1980 in December.
An exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of S&P 500 energy stocks was down 1.4 percent in premarket trading.
Shares of Cempra Inc rose near 30 percent after it moved closer to approval of its lead antibiotic, solithromycin, after an oral version of the potential blockbuster met the main goal in a late-stage trial.
