U.S. stocks were poised to open little changed Monday, ahead of
several updates on the U.S. economy that could shed light on the
pace of growth.
S&P futures slipped one point to 2097. Changes in futures
aren't necessarily reflected in market moves after the opening
bell.
Key readings on consumer spending and the Fed's preferred
measure of inflation are due ahead of the opening bell. Later in
the morning, updates on construction spending and manufacturing
activity are scheduled for release.
Investors are waiting for a sustained pickup in consumer
spending, which could spur earnings and stock prices for a wide
swath of companies. The steep decline in oil prices over the last
year should act as a driver for spending, many investors say, as
consumers direct the money they've saved on gas elsewhere.
"When it comes to just broad-based spending, they're really
watching how they're spending their dollars," said Paul Buongiorno,
chief investment strategist at Tiedemann Wealth Management.
"If you see strong spending growth ... that's someone else's
revenue. That should translate into strong revenue and earnings
growth of broad-based corporate America going forward," he
added.
Oil prices have tumbled more than 50% since last summer, and
continued to fall Monday. Crude-oil futures slipped 1.5% to $46.41
a barrel.
Economic data also drove stocks around the world. In Asia,
equities dropped after a gauge of Chinese factory-floor activity
slumped to a two-year low and commodity prices continued to
fall.
In Europe, the lingering concern about China's economy dragged
down mining shares, but most other indexes climbed.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7%, boosted by some upbeat corporate
earnings and data showing eurozone factory activity in July grew
slightly more rapidly than first estimated.
Germany's DAX gained 0.9% and France's CAC 40 added 0.7%. But
Greece's Athex Composite index, which had been closed since June 29
as the country's debt crisis intensified, plunged.
In other markets, gold prices lost 0.5% to $1090.00 an ounce.
Treasury prices rose slightly, pushing the 10-year yield down to
2.196% from 2.207% on Friday.
Tommy Stubbington and Josie Cox contributed to this article.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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