Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Monday, as concerns over Spain’s financial crisis continued to weigh, while investors eyed a European summit later in the week for signs of progress in tackling the region’s debt woes.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.68%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.76% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.64% loss.
Spain’s government formally requested aid of up to EUR100 billion for its banking sector from its euro zone partners. Spain’s economy minister said the amount should be enough to cover the needs of all banks and provide an additional security buffer.
Meanwhile, market sentiment weakened ahead of an EU summit due to begin later in the week, amid growing doubts over whether leaders will make any progress towards greater fiscal integration and allowing the bloc's rescue funds to buy government debt.
Fears that the debt crisis in Europe is creating a drag on global growth also continued to weigh, following a string of data late last week which pointed to weak U.S. manufacturing activity, a shrinking Chinese manufacturing sector and slowing business activity across the single currency bloc.
Computer technology companies were expected to be active, after Hewlett Packard, the world's largest personal computer maker, announced that it may cut as many as 1,000 jobs in Germany as part of planned European-wide redundancies.
Meanwhile, Google’s chief executive Larry Page attempted to reassure employees about his health after missing the company’s annual shareholders meeting last week. Page told employees there was “nothing seriously wrong”.
Also in the tech sector, The Sunday Times reported that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, sending shares down 1.07% in pre-market trade. Research in Motion is also scheduled to report quarterly earnings later this week.
Apple was also likely to be in focus, after Samsung Electronics Co said it expects sales of its new Galaxy S III, launched at the end of last month as a main rival to Apple's iPhone, to top 10 million during July, making it the South Korean group's fastest selling smartphone. Apple shares fell 0.62% in early trading.
In the financial sector, Morgan Stanley was likely to be in the spotlight, after Brazilian authorities said they want the U.S. investment banking giant to return about USD54 million associated with a stock sale by shareholders of troubled lender Banco Cruzeiro do Sul, which was seized by the central bank this month.
Morgan Stanley was also among the 15 global banks that were downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service last Thursday.
Elsewhere, U.S. regulators ruled against Shire in a battle over generic copies of its hyperactivity drug Adderall XR, approving a cut-price version of the medicine from Watson Pharmaceuticals' Actavis unit. Shares in Watson jumped 1.38% in pre-market trade.
Other stocks in focus included Apollo Group, Symex and H.B. Fuller, all due to report quarterly earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.80%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.64%, Germany's DAX plummeted 1.51%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index declined 0.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on new home sales.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.68%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.76% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.64% loss.
Spain’s government formally requested aid of up to EUR100 billion for its banking sector from its euro zone partners. Spain’s economy minister said the amount should be enough to cover the needs of all banks and provide an additional security buffer.
Meanwhile, market sentiment weakened ahead of an EU summit due to begin later in the week, amid growing doubts over whether leaders will make any progress towards greater fiscal integration and allowing the bloc's rescue funds to buy government debt.
Fears that the debt crisis in Europe is creating a drag on global growth also continued to weigh, following a string of data late last week which pointed to weak U.S. manufacturing activity, a shrinking Chinese manufacturing sector and slowing business activity across the single currency bloc.
Computer technology companies were expected to be active, after Hewlett Packard, the world's largest personal computer maker, announced that it may cut as many as 1,000 jobs in Germany as part of planned European-wide redundancies.
Meanwhile, Google’s chief executive Larry Page attempted to reassure employees about his health after missing the company’s annual shareholders meeting last week. Page told employees there was “nothing seriously wrong”.
Also in the tech sector, The Sunday Times reported that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, sending shares down 1.07% in pre-market trade. Research in Motion is also scheduled to report quarterly earnings later this week.
Apple was also likely to be in focus, after Samsung Electronics Co said it expects sales of its new Galaxy S III, launched at the end of last month as a main rival to Apple's iPhone, to top 10 million during July, making it the South Korean group's fastest selling smartphone. Apple shares fell 0.62% in early trading.
In the financial sector, Morgan Stanley was likely to be in the spotlight, after Brazilian authorities said they want the U.S. investment banking giant to return about USD54 million associated with a stock sale by shareholders of troubled lender Banco Cruzeiro do Sul, which was seized by the central bank this month.
Morgan Stanley was also among the 15 global banks that were downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service last Thursday.
Elsewhere, U.S. regulators ruled against Shire in a battle over generic copies of its hyperactivity drug Adderall XR, approving a cut-price version of the medicine from Watson Pharmaceuticals' Actavis unit. Shares in Watson jumped 1.38% in pre-market trade.
Other stocks in focus included Apollo Group, Symex and H.B. Fuller, all due to report quarterly earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.80%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.64%, Germany's DAX plummeted 1.51%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index declined 0.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on new home sales.