By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures fell Monday, pointing to a lower start for Wall Street, with markets taking a cue from Europe as the initial euphoria surrounding last week’s plan to contain the euro-zone debt crisis faded and investors were left looking for more details.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ1Z -0.44% fell 95 points to 12,073. S&P 500 Index futures SPX +0.04% fell 12.4 points to 1,268.50, while Nasdaq 100 futures ND1Z -0.88% dropped 19.25 points to 2,377.25.
“I think there’s an element of caution that crept into the U.S. session on Friday,” said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index. “I think people are looking for more meat on the bones” of the debt plan.
A further rise in Italian government bond yields underscored nervousness surrounding the plan, he said.
The 10-year Italian government bond yield IT:10YR_ITA +2.30% rose to 6.09% on Monday, pressing back above the 6% level and approaching its early August high of 6.18%, according to trading platform Tradeweb.
Investors also appear wary of pressing the market ahead of a summit meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing economies later this week.
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday urged G-20 leaders to take coordinated action to help prevent a global downturn in the face of threats posed by Europe’s debt crisis and the risk that U.S. fiscal policy becomes overly tight. Read Market Pulse about the G-20 and the OECD
European equities dropped Monday, as traders locked in recent gains and awaited more details on the plan. Read Europe Markets
Asian stocks slipped Monday, although some Japanese exporters got a lift after Tokyo intervened heavily in foreign exchange markets, sending the yen sliding versus the dollar and other currencies. Read Asia Markets
The move translated into strong gains for the dollar versus most major rivals. Read Currencies
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday said it suspended MF Global MF +10.00% from conducting business with the bank until the firm can establish that it is “fully capable of discharging the responsibilities set out in the New York Fed’s policy” on primary dealers or until the firm’s status as a primary dealer is terminated.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that MF Global was nearing a deal to sell off assets to Interactive Brokers Group and file for bankruptcy protection as early as Monday.
The tentative deal would involve a Chapter 11 filing followed by Interactive Brokers making an initial bid of about $1 billion via a court-supervised auction, the report said. Read Market Pulse about MF Global
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Monday suspended business with the brokerage firm.
Of the 312 companies that had reported earnings as of Friday, 77% beat earnings estimates, topping the 74% average seen over the past four quarters, according to data provider FactSet Research.
Around 105 companies are set to report earnings this week, including heavyweights Comcast Corp. CMCSA -3.01% on Wednesday and Prudential Financial PRU -0.03% on Thursday.
The Chicago-area purchasing managers index for October is set for release at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time.
Employment data for October is set for release on Friday, topping the week’s lineup of economic data. The report is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by just 90,000 in October, according to a MarketWatch survey of economists, after a rise of 103,000 in September. Read Economic Preview
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Friday, adding to strong weekly gains for major indexes as investors registered relief over the deal hammered out by European leaders in their latest attempt to put a lid on the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.18% rose 3.6% last week, ending Friday at 12,231.11. The S&P 500 SPX +0.04% gained 3.8% for the week to end at 1,285.09, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP -0.05% added 3.8% for the week despite a Friday stumble to finish at 2,737.15.
William L. Watts is a reporter for MarketWatch in Frankfurt.
