Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to a lower open on Monday, as investors assessed soft economic data from China ahead of the release of a monthly U.S. manufacturing report.
The blue-chip Dow futures shed 65 points, or 0.4%, by 12:00GMT, or 7:00AM ET, the S&P 500 futures dipped 9 points, or 0.44%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 19 points, or 0.43%.
Global stock markets were mostly lower on Monday, as disappointing Chinese manufacturing activity data added to concerns over global economic growth.
The official China manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to a three-year low of 49.4 in January from 49.7 a month earlier, falling short of expectations for 49.6. Meanwhile, the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 48.4 last month, contracting for the 11th straight month.
Meanwhile, oil prices retreated on Monday amid doubts over the likelihood of a deal between Russia and OPEC producers to cut output happening anytime soon.
Oil rallied last week amid speculation OPEC and non-OPEC producers may be edging closer to a deal to cut production in an effort to tackle one of the biggest supply gluts in decades.
In pre-market news, Google-parent Alphabet Inc (O:GOOGL) inched up 0.6%. The tech giant will report fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Monday, amid expectations for revenue of $16.9 billion and earnings per share of $8.17.
Investors will also get new details on non-Google reporting segments, such as self-driving cars. A strong report could boost the stock enough for Alphabet to surpass Apple (O:AAPL) as the most valuable company in the world.
On the data front, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management is to release data on January manufacturing activity at 15:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET, on Monday. The gauge is expected to ease down 0.2 points to 48.0, which would be the lowest reading since July 2009.
Also Monday, U.S. consumer spending data is due at 13:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET.