Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady open on Monday, as expectations for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates on hold for longer continued to support, while markets eyed upcoming U.S. economic reports.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.07% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.07% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.01% downtick.
Global equity markets remained supported after official data last week showed that the U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 2.9% in the first three months of the year, fuelling expectations that the Fed will not raise interest rates in the near future.
Dollar General (NYSE:DG) was expected to remain in focus, after shares plummeted over 7% on Friday when the discount retailer maintained its lowered full-year profit outlook given in June and said its CEO would retire at the end of May 2015.
In similar news, chemicals supplier Dupont Fabros Technology (NYSE:DFT) reduced its operating profit outlook for the second quarter and full year.
Elsewhere, GoPro surged 3.97% in pre-market trade after skyrocketing over 14% on Friday for the company's second day on the market.
Meanwhile, AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) was set to remain in the spotlight as executives were expected in London for meetings with U.K. drugmaker Shire shareholders ahead of a potential renewed takeover bid.
In the tech sector, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) gained 0.50% in extended trade after th company began last week removing search results in Europe to comply with new rules on the "right to be forgotten".
The move came after Europe's highest court rules last month that individuals had the right to request the removal of results linking to personal information under certain conditions.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mostly higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 eased up 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.08%, Germany's DAX rose 0.29%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched 0.03% higher.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged down 0.13%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.44%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago region and a report on pending home sales.