By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Stock futures edged lower on Monday, as
investors took in news of a deadly weekend in the
Israel-Palestinian conflict and potentially tougher sanctions from
Europe against Russia over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines
passenger jet.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) fell 29
points to 17,003, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) fell
3.6 points to 1,968. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (NDU4) dipped
2.25 points to 3,928.
"We are seeing a push toward more defensive sectors [in Europe]
and expect that to follow suit when U.S. markets open," said Brenda
Kelly, chief market strategist at IG .
There are no economic events for Monday and a scant amount of
earnings, leaving investors to face down a weekend of rising global
tensions. On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on an
open microphone, ahead of interviews with Sunday talk shows,
criticizing Israeli's Gaza operation after the deadliest day of
fighting for both sides since the conflict began.
Meanwhile, European threats of tougher sanctions against Russia
weighed on European stocks and filtered through to stock futures as
well. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press", Kerry said a
"buildup of extraordinary circumstantial evidence" is pointing to
Russia as the source of the missile that shot down Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, killing 298 people.
International anger is growing over the inability of experts to
reach the crash site, as bodies languish in railcars without any
clear plan as to destination. Kerry described what was happening as
"grotesque," referring to reports of "drunken separatist soldiers,
unceremoniously piling bodies onto trucks", and removing bodies and
evidence from the site.
European stocks stayed under pressure, and Russia's blue-chip
MICEX index was down 1.4%. Asian markets closed mixed.
Wall Street stocks finished last week higher, despite
volatility. The S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow industrials (DJI)
finished the week up 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. The Russell 2000
(RUT) lost 0.7% for the week, and analysts said investors will be
watching for more pain there. Gold (GCQ4) moved higher, while oil
(CLQ4) was also marginally up. Small caps' slump, Ukraine fears may
hold up market
This is also a major week for earnings. Among the heavy hitters,
Apple Inc. (AAPL) will report Tuesday, and Boeing Co. (BA) and
Facebook Inc. (FB) will report Wednesday.
Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Hasbro Inc. (HAS) will report early
Monday, while results from Netflix Inc. (NFLX)(NFLX),Texas
Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will come
after the close of regular trading. Netflix, Chipotle, TI are
Monday's stocks to watch
Joao Monteiro, analyst at Valutrades, said that Monday could
mark a period of consolidation for markets after last week's gains.
"More international action in an attempt to shift the geopolitical
agenda is inevitable, but the real uncertainty hangs over the
timing," he said in emailed comments.
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