NEW YORK — U.S. stocks headed for a higher open today as oil fell by almost $7 a barrel after it appeared that the Gulf Coast and its oil facilities were spared heavy damage from Hurricane Gustav.

Beyond a broad pullback in commodities, investors also awaited a report from a trade group of purchasing executives on the manufacturing sector. The Institute for Supply Management is expected to report that the manufacturing sector saw virtually flat activity in August compared to July, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Financial/IFR.

Investors focused on the drop in oil, however, as fears that Gustav would leave a wide swath of heavy damage across the Gulf began to subside. Light, sweet crude fell $6.94 to $108.52 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Beyond investors' relief over the early reports on damage from Gustav, commodity investors also appear to be questioning whether a slowing global economy will damp demand for oil and other commodities.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 98, or 0.85 percent, to 11,639. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 8.60, or 0.67 percent, to 1,291.20 and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 20.00, or 1.07 percent, to 1,895.00.