Wall Street futures point to a muted start to the week, with all three major benchmarks in negative territory ahead of the opening bell.
After a strong finish to the last week, Dow Jones futures were down about 24 points at 17,522 while the S&P 500 was down a handful of points at 2,062.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, was about 10 points lower at 4,601.
International markets have somewhat set the tone. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,432 while the French CAC was 0.6% lower at 4,894, though Germany’s DAX saw positive ground, up a shade at 10,796.
Oil prices were trending positively, with Brent up about 0.5% at US$48.25 and West Texas Intermediary moving 0.6% higher to US$44.85.
In New York, the key corporate news most likely comes from General Motors (NYSE:GM) which has reached a tentative accord with the United Auto Workers worker’s union. The agreement is for four years, the terms have not been disclosed, but, it should avert strike action.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX, TSE:VRX) has revealed it will set up a committee to review allegations that surfaced last week regarding its association with specialty pharmacy distributor Philidor.
In the energy sector, the attention is on Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE:PNY) which is the subject to a US$4.9bn takeover approach from Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK).
In terms of earnings reports Xerox (NYSE:XRX) is the focus on Monday, after it posted expectation beating profits on revenues that actually fell short of forecasts. The copier business highlighted that it has now taken steps to accelerate cost reduction plans, and added that a comprehensive review of the company’s portfolio would now be carried out.