* Futures up: Dow 0.66%, S&P 500 0.68%, Nasdaq 0.66%

* Sysco ( SYY ) falls after $29 bln Jetro Restaurant Depot buyout

deal

* Morgan Stanley downgrades global equities to "equal

weight"

* Comments from Fed's Jerome Powell, John Williams

awaited

(Updates before markets open)

By Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit

March 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set

for a higher open on Monday after logging sharp declines in the

previous session, following President Donald Trump's comments on

the U.S. and Iran talks, while the Middle East conflict widened.

Trump said that the U.S. was in serious discussions with a

"more reasonable regime" to end the war, but repeated his

warning to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S attacks on

Iranian oil wells and power plants.

The comments come after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia

entered the war over the weekend and more U.S. troops arrived in

the Middle East, escalating the conflict. Pakistan, which is

acting as an intermediary, said "meaningful talks" could be

hosted in the coming days.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday, sending energy stocks

higher with Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) and Chevron ( CVX ) up over 1%

each in premarket trading.

"The S&P 500 is still down less than 10% (since the war

began). In many ways, investors have been affected less by the

implications of the Strait of Hormuz being closed than I would

have thought," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at

CFRA Research.

"Today's action is probably more of a technical bounce

because many sectors and sub-industries are in oversold

condition."

Wall Street's main indexes ended their fifth consecutive

week in the red on Friday, with the blue-chip Dow confirming it

was in a correction territory after closing more than 10% below

its record high.

The Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell 2000 have also

confirmed the correction territory since the war began. The

benchmark S&P 500 is a little over 1% away from the mark.

Wall Street brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded global

equities to "equal weight" from "overweight", but said fund

flows to U.S. equities and bonds had overtaken the rest of the

world since the conflict began, indicating it might re-emerge as

a safe haven for investors.

At 08:23 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 298 points, or

0.66%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 43.5 points, or 0.68% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 154.75 points, or 0.66%.

Investors will closely monitor comments from Fed Chair

Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams,

scheduled to speak later in the day.

A slew of labor market data, including the nonfarm payrolls

figures for March, is scheduled for release this week and

expected to provide more insight into the health of the economy.

The spike in oil prices resulting from the Iran conflict has

revived inflation fears, prompting money market participants to

price out any easing from the Federal Reserve this year,

compared with two cuts before the war began, as per CME Group's

FedWatch Tool.

Among other movers, Sysco's ( SYY ) shares dropped 8.3%

before the bell after the food distributor said it would buy

catering supplier Jetro Restaurant Depot in a $29 billion deal,

including debt.

Shares of aluminum producers climbed as prices of the metal

were trading at around four-year peaks. Alcoa ( AA ) and Century

Aluminum ( CENX ) gained 10.5% and 12.8%, respectively.

U.S. markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday

holiday.