U.S. futures lower amid growth concerns; Dow Jones down 0.32%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Monday, as concerns over a global economic slowdown continued to weigh on sentiment, while investors still eyed developments in the euro zone.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.32%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.34% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.43% drop.

Sentiment came under pressure after the World Bank cut its estimate for East Asian growth, including China.

Markets were also jittery ahead of the meeting in Luxemburg and as German Chancelor Angela Merkel was to make her first trip to Greece since July 2007 on Tuesday.

Merkel's visit coincides with deliberations among Greece's troika of international creditors - the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund - on whether the country will receive its next installment of aid.

Apple was expected to remain in the spotlight, as Foxconn Technology Group, the assembler of iPhones had to stop production for the second time in two weeks after factory-line workers continued to protest against their working conditions. Shares in Apple were down 0.78% in pre-market trade.

Foxconn employs more than 1 million workers in China and has suffered in the past three years from suicides, riots and strikes.

In the Internet sector, Yahoo was likely to be in focus amid reports investors are urging CEO Marissa Mayer to buy back shares rather than pay a dividend with the USD3 billion raised from selling a stake in Alibaba Group Holding.

Auto stocks were also expected to be active after General Motors said that it and its China joint ventures sold 244,266 vehicles in the country in September, up 1.7% from a year earlier.

Elsewhere, Wal-Mart Stores and American Express announced over the weekend that they will hold a conference call on Monday to make a financial services announcement. Pre-market, shares in American Express climbed 0.45%.

Also in company news, electronic health-records company Allscripts Healthcare Solutions surged 4.95% in early trading, amid reports it received first-round bids for a leveraged buyout from private-equity firms including Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Silver Lake Management.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.11%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 1.10%, Germany's DAX slid 1.24%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.69%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.89%, while markets in Japan were closed for a national holiday.

Trading volumes were expected to be light on Monday, as bond markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for Columbus Day.