Forexpros – U.S. stock futures were steady on Monday, as market sentiment remained under pressure amid sustained concerns over Spain’s sovereign debt crisis while investors eyed the release of a string of U.S. economic data later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.03%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated 0.06% loss.
Concerns over the economic outlook for Spain re-remerged after official data confirmed that the country’s economy entered a recession in the first quarter, with gross domestic product contracting by 0.3% in the three months to March and 0.4% year-on-year.
Market reaction remained muted as the figures were slightly better than estimates released by the Bank of Spain last week for a 0.4% contraction in the first quarter and a 0.5% contraction on the year.
The data came as ratings agency Standard & Poor’s announced widespread credit ratings downgrades on Spain’s troubled banking sector, following a two notch downgrade of the country’s sovereign credit rating last week.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after Friday’s weaker-than-forecast first quarter growth data added to speculation that the Federal Reserve may implement a third round of easing measures.
Biotech companies were expected to be active as GlaxoSmithKline’s USD2.6 billion offer for Human Genome Sciences. Shares in GlaxoSmithKline were up 0.56% in pre-market trade.
Meanwhile, Pall Corp. said on Sunday it agreed to sell some of its blood collection, filtration and processing product lines to medical device company Haemonetics Corp. for about USD550 million.
In addition, pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott said it is evaluating options, including a possible sale of the company, after receiving interest from strategic and private-equity buyers.
Elsewhere in corporate news, China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd said on Monday it has agreed to buy 20 new Boeing B777-300ER aircraft from Boeing Co., valued at USD5.94 billion based on the 2011 price catalog.
In the energy sector, Exxon Mobil was likely to be in focus as the largest U.S. oil company quit an offshore Brazilian exploration project three years after failing to find oil.
Auto giant General Motors was also slated to move during Monday’s session on reports it may take a 10% stake in Isuzu Motors Ltd. and start joint development of commercial vehicles for Southeast Asia and Central and South America.
Other stocks in focus included Anadarko Petroleum and Humana Inc., due to report results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.66%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.69%, Germany’s DAX added 0.14%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.37%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 1.7%, while markets in Japan remained closed due to a national holiday.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on core personal consumption expenditures price inflation and on personal spending, followed by a report on business activity in Chicago.
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