Investing.com - U.S. stock futures declined today as investors avoided global equities and sought out safe-haven assets, like gold and the Japanese yen. There was also increasing anticipation in advance of Friday’s inauguration speech from President-elect Donald Trump in Washington D.C.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 45 points, or 0.2%, to 19,787 and S&P 500 futures declined 5.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,267.25. Nasdaq-100 futures declined 5.5 points to 5,053.50.
Regular trading for U.S. financial markets is on holiday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial day.
On Friday, U.S. stocks finished a mediocre week in the red. The Dow industrials finished 0.4% lower and the S&P 500 was off 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1% over the week, after finishing at 5,574.12 for its sixth all-time closing high in seven sessions.
Fresh concerns over Brexit hit the pound on Monday.
Traders were also anxious about Friday's inauguration of President-elect Trump. Advocates tried to assuage concerns. "Enjoy Friday," said former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), in a television appearance on Monday. "It's a new day for the U.S."
Trump tussled with the outgoing CIA director today, after John Brennan, an Obama appointee, appeared on TV on Sunday and was critical about the new president. Trump accused the CIA of failure in the Crimea, the Ukraine, Syria, and the build-up of Russian nuclear arms.
Trump met today with the son of Martin Luther King, Jr., and it emerged that Alveda King, MLK's niece, voted for Trump last fall.
"We have 50-60 million Americans in poverty," said Martin Luther King, III, in a press gaggle at Trump Tower in New York City, covered by Investing.com. "We have to work together on ways to end that."
Senior advisor to Trump, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said in a TV interview that the president-elect wants to create a "New Deal for black Americans." The New Deal was a historic, 1930s, Depression-era jobs program in the U.S.