MW: U.S. stock futures fall after long holiday weekend
Executive-level appointments announced at Barclays PLC, Oracle Corp.
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed on Tuesday to a lower opening on Wall Street, as traders return to their desks after a long holiday weekend, with shares of Barclays under pressure after the banking giant announced a new chief executive.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40 points to 10,396.
S&P 500 futures declined 5.5 points to 1,098 and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 5.25 points to 1,861.70.
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Labor Day. The Dow (DJIA 10,448, +127.83, +1.24%) rose 1.2% last Friday, buoyed by better-than-expected data about the U.S. labor market. Last week, the blue-chip index gained 2.9%, snapping a three-week losing streak.
No major U.S. economic data are scheduled for release on Tuesday.
Most Asian stock markets ended lower overnight and European equities also posted losses in intraday trading. The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 259.64, -1.30, -0.50%) fell 0.6%.
Investors digested several high-level shakeups in the banking and technology industries.
U.S.-listed shares of Barclays PLC (BCS 20.28, +0.97, +5.02%) (UK:BARC 312.10, -10.75, -3.33%) dropped 5.2% in premarket trading after the British bank said that Robert Diamond, the head of its investment-banking arm, will become its new group chief executive starting early next year. Diamond will succeed John Varley, who's been at the helm since 2004.
Shares of Barclays fell 3.5% on the London Stock Exchange. Read more on Barclays.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, the BBC reported that Stephen Green, chairman of banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC 50.68, +0.32, +0.64%) (UK:HSBA 661.50, -1.30, -0.20%) , will step down to become trade minister in the U.K.'s coalition government.
The official announcement of Green's new government position could come as soon as Tuesday afternoon, according to the report. See more on HSBC.
Shares of Oracle Corp. (ORCL 22.92, +0.44, +1.96%) gained 3.2% in premarket trading. Oracle announced that Mark Hurd has joined the firm as president and has been named to the board. Hurd is the former scandal-hit chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ 40.34, +0.66, +1.66%) . Read more on the appointment.
In the commodity markets, crude-oil futures fell $1.28, or 1.7%, to $73.32 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
The dollar index (DXY 82.63, +0.57, +0.70%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, gained 0.6% to 82.509.
