US stocks are poised to start the new trading week mixed as Britain's Brexit turmoil continues and European and Asian indices are also struggling for direction.
President Trump is meeting President Putin and crude oil (West Texas Intermediate) is under pressure, down over 1.6% to US$69.85.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 100 points, closing at 25,019, boosted by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) and United Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:UTX).
Meanwhile, the broader based S&P 500 rose to its highest level since February.
In futures trade today, the Dow Jones is up 12 points; the Nasdaq index is ahead by six points and the S&P 500 shed 0.50 points.
In London, FTSE 100 is down around 45 points on Monday morning. France's CAC 40 is also down around ten but the German DAX is around 12 points higher.
More controversy is swirling around UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit white paper last week, in which she set out her current position on the way ahead.
But it certainly hasn't gone down well in all quarters and now ex Tory cabinet minister Justine Greening has called for a second referendum.
“Brexit talks continue but the talk today is about a potential second referendum,” said Neil Wilson, at markets.com, earlier today.
“Theresa May is assailed on all sides and the only thing that we really confidently say is that this is heading nowhere fast. Her compromise risks a split in the Tory part, and it probably won’t be approved by the EU anyway. So we face the very real prospect that we are heading for another referendum, or at the least, another General Election,” he speculated.
“Looking ahead, the Trump-Putin summit could have an impact on risk assets as the US president continues to show a willingness to disrupt the established world order," Wilson added.
Analyst Connor Campbell at Spreadex said of US trade: "As for the US open, the Dow Jones is set to nudge 25 points higher after the bell, a meagre increase that nevertheless would keep the index above 25000 and near a one month peak.
"In terms of data, the US retail sales are set to fall from 0.8% to 0.4% month-on-month, while the Empire State manufacturing index is forecast to slip from 25.0 to 20.3.
In Asia overnight, the Nikkei 225 surged over 409 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index shed around 17 points.