Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were lower on Monday, as political uncertainty in Greece and the possibility the country may be forced out of the euro zone continued to dominate market sentiment.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.81%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.95% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated 0.89% decline.
On Sunday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s largest anti-bailout party Syriza, rejected calls to join a coalition government, fuelling fears that a fresh round of elections is becoming inevitable and casting the country’s ability to uphold its fiscal commitments into doubt.
Meanwhile, Spanish and Italian government bond auctions saw borrowing costs rise.
Spain sold EUR2.9 billion of 12 and 18-month bonds, slightly below its maximum target of EUR3 billion. The yield on the 12-month bonds rose to 2.98%, from 2.62% previously, while the yield on the 18-month bonds increased to 3.3%, from 3.11%.
In Italy, the Treasury raised a total of EUR5.25 billion euros, meeting the top of a planned issue range of EUR3.50-5.25 billion euros, at an average 3.91% yield, the highest since January but below market levels of around 4% at the time of the auction.
Financials stocks were expected to be active, starting with JPMorgan after the announcement of a USD2 billion trading loss, prompting regulators to demand stiffer oversight for the banking industry.
The U.S. lender lost USD15 billion in market value and a notch in its credit ratings on Friday,
Meanwhile, Yahoo was likely to remain in focus as the group was preparing to replace its CEO for the third time in as many years, and giving three board seats to a hedge fund led by Daniel Loeb, putting him in a strong position to influence strategy at the struggling Internet company.
In the same field, investors were anxiously watching Facebook, set to go public later this week.
Energy stocks were also slated to move after Concho Resources said it would buy all of the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Company LLC, a portfolio company of private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, for USD1 billion in cash.
Chesapeake Energy saw shares surge 7.36% in pre-market trade after the oil company said it had received a USD3 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and Jeffries Group that will give it breathing room to sell assets and close a funding gap this year.
Elsewhere, Avon Products jumped 7.03% in pre-market trade after saying on Sunday said it told Coty that it would consider the smaller company's USD10.7 billion takeover bid and it expected to respond within a week.
Other stocks in focus included AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, after it bowed to pressure on Friday from its unsecured creditors, including its largest labor unions, and said it would explore merger options while it is still in bankruptcy.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 2.66%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 2.43%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.17%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1.91%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.4%, while markets in Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.25%.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.81%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.95% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated 0.89% decline.
On Sunday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s largest anti-bailout party Syriza, rejected calls to join a coalition government, fuelling fears that a fresh round of elections is becoming inevitable and casting the country’s ability to uphold its fiscal commitments into doubt.
Meanwhile, Spanish and Italian government bond auctions saw borrowing costs rise.
Spain sold EUR2.9 billion of 12 and 18-month bonds, slightly below its maximum target of EUR3 billion. The yield on the 12-month bonds rose to 2.98%, from 2.62% previously, while the yield on the 18-month bonds increased to 3.3%, from 3.11%.
In Italy, the Treasury raised a total of EUR5.25 billion euros, meeting the top of a planned issue range of EUR3.50-5.25 billion euros, at an average 3.91% yield, the highest since January but below market levels of around 4% at the time of the auction.
Financials stocks were expected to be active, starting with JPMorgan after the announcement of a USD2 billion trading loss, prompting regulators to demand stiffer oversight for the banking industry.
The U.S. lender lost USD15 billion in market value and a notch in its credit ratings on Friday,
Meanwhile, Yahoo was likely to remain in focus as the group was preparing to replace its CEO for the third time in as many years, and giving three board seats to a hedge fund led by Daniel Loeb, putting him in a strong position to influence strategy at the struggling Internet company.
In the same field, investors were anxiously watching Facebook, set to go public later this week.
Energy stocks were also slated to move after Concho Resources said it would buy all of the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Company LLC, a portfolio company of private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, for USD1 billion in cash.
Chesapeake Energy saw shares surge 7.36% in pre-market trade after the oil company said it had received a USD3 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and Jeffries Group that will give it breathing room to sell assets and close a funding gap this year.
Elsewhere, Avon Products jumped 7.03% in pre-market trade after saying on Sunday said it told Coty that it would consider the smaller company's USD10.7 billion takeover bid and it expected to respond within a week.
Other stocks in focus included AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, after it bowed to pressure on Friday from its unsecured creditors, including its largest labor unions, and said it would explore merger options while it is still in bankruptcy.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 2.66%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 2.43%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.17%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1.91%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.4%, while markets in Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.25%.