Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Monday, amid debt concerns in the euro zone and an apparent failure by U.S. politicians to agree on deficit reduction.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a drop of 1.26%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.45% plunge, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.95% loss.
Earlier in the day, the spread between 10-year Spanish bond yields and their German counterparts widened as investors remained jittery despite the election of a new government.
Also Monday, rating agency Moody's said a rise in French government debt yields and weaker growth prospects could be negative for the outlook on the country's credit rating.
Meanwhile, speculation that a U.S. congressional "super committee" was set to announce that it had failed in a three-month-long effort to draft a USD1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan weighed on market sentiment.
Energy stocks led losses as shares in Chevron, the second-largest U.S. energy company tumbled 2.20%, as it was preparing to fully clean up a spill off Brazil's coast, taking responsibility for an accident that has become a major test for one of the world's fastest-growing oil frontiers.
Elsewhere, Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, dropped 1.93% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to “underweight.”
On the upside, Pfizer saw shares advance 0.31% after agreeing to pay more than USD60 million to settle an investigation by U.S. regulators into whether the drugmaker paid bribes to win business abroad, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Alleghany Corp was up 0.57% as it was nearing a deal to buy Transatlantic Holdings for about USD3.4 billion.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed, as shares in Goldman Sachs declined 0.48% and Bank of America fell 0.34%, while JP Morgan and Citigroup saw shares rise 0.43% and 1.08% respectively.
Other stocks in focus included Hewlett-Packard and Tyson Foods, due to report quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.38%, France’s CAC 40 dove 2.56%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.40%, while Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 1.92%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.37%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.32%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on existing home sales.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a drop of 1.26%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.45% plunge, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.95% loss.
Earlier in the day, the spread between 10-year Spanish bond yields and their German counterparts widened as investors remained jittery despite the election of a new government.
Also Monday, rating agency Moody's said a rise in French government debt yields and weaker growth prospects could be negative for the outlook on the country's credit rating.
Meanwhile, speculation that a U.S. congressional "super committee" was set to announce that it had failed in a three-month-long effort to draft a USD1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan weighed on market sentiment.
Energy stocks led losses as shares in Chevron, the second-largest U.S. energy company tumbled 2.20%, as it was preparing to fully clean up a spill off Brazil's coast, taking responsibility for an accident that has become a major test for one of the world's fastest-growing oil frontiers.
Elsewhere, Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, dropped 1.93% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to “underweight.”
On the upside, Pfizer saw shares advance 0.31% after agreeing to pay more than USD60 million to settle an investigation by U.S. regulators into whether the drugmaker paid bribes to win business abroad, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Alleghany Corp was up 0.57% as it was nearing a deal to buy Transatlantic Holdings for about USD3.4 billion.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed, as shares in Goldman Sachs declined 0.48% and Bank of America fell 0.34%, while JP Morgan and Citigroup saw shares rise 0.43% and 1.08% respectively.
Other stocks in focus included Hewlett-Packard and Tyson Foods, due to report quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.38%, France’s CAC 40 dove 2.56%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.40%, while Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 1.92%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.37%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.32%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on existing home sales.