US stocks are expected to open lower on Monday ahead of a clutch of economic data and as the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey continues to cause mayhem in Texas.
The city of Houston - the fourth largest in the US - continues to be at the heart of the problem flooding, where an astonishing 30 inches of rain has fallen and where five people are reported dead.
In London, FTSE 100 is closed for the August Bank Holiday, while US futures have the S&P 500 trading 0.5 points down; the Nasdaq is down 2.5m while the Dow Jones Industrial Index off 19 points.
In Germany the DAX is down 59, while the CAC 40 in France is off over 20 points.
It was a mixed session on Friday which saw equities cling on to gains despite a negative reaction to the speech Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, which failed to really throw any clues on the timing of future rate rises.
The S&P 500 closed up 4 points, and the Dow Jones finished up 30 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost ground, losing six points at 6,266.
On Friday this week is the closely watched non-farm payroll data, while closer to now and today is international trade good data, which will be released later this morning and the Dallas Fed manufacturing report for August.
Meanwhile, in company news, in pre-market Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) shares were nudging higher as it announced plans to buy Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: KITE) for around a whopping $11.9 billion in cash. Shares in the latter flew up over 28% after-hours to $178.70. In the regular session, Gillead shares added 2.46% to $75.60, while Kite shares gained 28.35% to $178.51.
Elsewhere, shares in a listed arm of Dalian Wanda, the Chinese property and entertainment giant, closed 8.1% lower in Hong Kong on Monday after it denied reports that its billionaire chairman, Wang Jianlin, was prevented from leaving China.
Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) is in focus in pre-market deals in New York after it announced it would buy fellow chip maker IXYS for around $750 million in cash and shares.
That's about $23 a share or 44% more than Friday's closing price for IXYS.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 0.18% after hours to $131.68 after the pharma behemoth's Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit unveiled positive results in a phase 3 study involving its blood-thinning drug Xarelto. Shares in Johnsonb on Monday nudged 0.05% higer to $131.74
The trial found that it signficantly reduced major cardiovascular events in certain heart patients.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares eased 0.03% after hours as the tech monster takes over ownership of Whole Foods Market today after it promised price cuts and special discounts for members of the Prime service. Shares in the regular session added 0.46% to $949.64.
In other company news, Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) told investors it had struck a deal to buy Canadian construction materials company Polaris Materials for around $202 million, subject to Polaris shareholder approval. Vulcan shares gained 1.10% to $114.38.
Immunotherapy to fight cancer is growing fast. Today,@GileadSciences agreed to buy @KitePharma in a $11.9bn deal https://t.co/yYS5psYB18 pic.twitter.com/0fGfpBYhTa
— Biocartis (@Biocartis_) 28 August 2017