Investing.com – U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Monday, as sentiment was weighed by mounting fears that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis could spread to Italy from Greece.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a decline of 1%, the S&P 500 futures dropped 1.4%, while Nasdaq 100 futures sank 1.3%.
Officials from the European Commission and the European Central Bank were to hold an emergency meeting later Monday to assess the risk of the region’s sovereign debt crisis spreading to Italy.
Meanwhile, speculation that officials could accept a selective Greek default continued, following a report in the Financial Times on Sunday.
Shares in the financial sector came under pressure in pre-market trade, tracking their European counterparts lower. Bank of America shares fell 1.5%, Citigroup retreated 1.6%, while U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank tumbled 4%.
With no economic data due Monday, Alcoa shares were expected to be in focus, as the company was to be the first Dow Jones Industrial Average component to report earnings for the second quarter after the closing bell.
Twelve companies on the benchmark Dow and S&P 500 indices, including JP Morgan, Citigroup and Google, were slated to publish their earnings later this week.
In deal news, Arch Chemicals saw shares surge 10.9% after it agreed to be acquired by Swiss chemicals company Lonza Group for nearly USD1.4 billion.
Other stocks in focus included satellite radio provider Sirius XM Radio, which said it would be added to the Nasdaq-100 index effective July 15.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets tumbled as shares in the financial sector came under broad selling pressure. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.5%, France’s CAC 40 sank 2.2%, Germany's DAX dropped 1.9%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.2%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.7% amid concerns over the U.S. economic recovery and after data showed that Chinese inflation soared to a three-year high of 6.4% in June.
Later in the day, President Barack Obama was due to meet with leaders from the U.S. Congress in order to discuss raising the U.S. debt ceiling, ahead of an August 2 deadline.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a decline of 1%, the S&P 500 futures dropped 1.4%, while Nasdaq 100 futures sank 1.3%.
Officials from the European Commission and the European Central Bank were to hold an emergency meeting later Monday to assess the risk of the region’s sovereign debt crisis spreading to Italy.
Meanwhile, speculation that officials could accept a selective Greek default continued, following a report in the Financial Times on Sunday.
Shares in the financial sector came under pressure in pre-market trade, tracking their European counterparts lower. Bank of America shares fell 1.5%, Citigroup retreated 1.6%, while U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank tumbled 4%.
With no economic data due Monday, Alcoa shares were expected to be in focus, as the company was to be the first Dow Jones Industrial Average component to report earnings for the second quarter after the closing bell.
Twelve companies on the benchmark Dow and S&P 500 indices, including JP Morgan, Citigroup and Google, were slated to publish their earnings later this week.
In deal news, Arch Chemicals saw shares surge 10.9% after it agreed to be acquired by Swiss chemicals company Lonza Group for nearly USD1.4 billion.
Other stocks in focus included satellite radio provider Sirius XM Radio, which said it would be added to the Nasdaq-100 index effective July 15.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets tumbled as shares in the financial sector came under broad selling pressure. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.5%, France’s CAC 40 sank 2.2%, Germany's DAX dropped 1.9%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.2%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.7% amid concerns over the U.S. economic recovery and after data showed that Chinese inflation soared to a three-year high of 6.4% in June.
Later in the day, President Barack Obama was due to meet with leaders from the U.S. Congress in order to discuss raising the U.S. debt ceiling, ahead of an August 2 deadline.