U.S. stocks may continue to show nervousness on Monday after their abysmal performance for much of May. The Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 Index had posted losses for each of the past five weeks, reflecting the downbeat mood among traders amid the release of soft data points. A few Fed speeches scheduled for the day could give some direction to the markets.
As of 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are down 11 points and the S&P 500 futures are edging down 0.70 points, while the Nasdaq 100 futures are gaining 0.50 points.
U.S. stocks recorded weekly declines for yet another week, as the major averages recorded losses of over 2 percent each for the week ended June 3rd amid the continued inflow of soft data.
For the week ended June 3rd, the Dow Industrials fell 2.33 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.29 percent, while the S&P 500 Index was down 2.32 percent. The Dow and the S&P 500 Index were down for the fifth straight week.
Activity on Main Street is likely to be subdued in the unfolding week, given the fact that only a handful of data/events is scheduled for the week. Prominent among them are some Fed speeches, the weekly jobless claims report and the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
The Federal Reserve's consumer credit report for April, the Commerce Department's trade balance report and Wholesale inventories reports, both for April, the Labor Department's report on import and export prices for May, the Treasury Budget for May and the Treasury auctions of 3-year and 10-year notes and 30-year bonds round up the economic events of the week.
At 3:45 pm ET, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak to the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta. Additionally, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher will speak at a Market News International seminar in New York at 5:30 pm ET.
Earlier in the day, speaking at Helsinki in Finland, Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank president Charles Plosser said communication of policy responses to the public in advance and also designing of a systematic plan will reduce uncertainty. Plosser also reiterated the need for the central bank to adopt an explicit numerical inflation target to keep inflation expectations well anchored.
On the corporate front, Apple (AAPL) could be in focus in connection with its annual Worldwide Developers' Conference beginning today. The company's CEO Steve Job, who is on a medical leave of absence, is set to make a rare appearance and deliver the keynote address. In its quest to climb on to the "cloud computing" bandwagon, the company is set to unveil its own cloud application, the "iCloud", at the conference.
Airline stocks may also see some activity after the International Air Transport Association reduced its 2011 profit outlook for the industry, citing natural disasters, high oil prices and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. The association expects a 54 percent drop in profits to $4 billion and net profit margins of 0.7 percent, sharply lower than the 1.4 percent it forecast earlier.
Data storage software makers could react to a report from IDC, which said first quarter revenues for the industry rose 12.4 percent year-over-year on buoyant demand for the recently refreshed products.
News from the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago showed that Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) skin cancer treatment Yervoy along with chemotherapy improved survival rates compared to chemotherapy alone by an average of 2 months.
Anemic job addition by the U.S. economy in May served as an irritant, as traders in Asia reacted negatively to the data and sent stocks lower. The Hong Kong, Chinese, New Zealand, South Korean and Taiwanese markets remained closed on account of public holidays.
Japan led the declines from the region, with the key Nikkei 225 average sliding 111.86 points or 1.18 percent to 9,380. Australia's All Ordinaries slid a more modest 17.90 points or 0.38 percent at 4,649, while India's Sensex bucked the downtrend with a 0.30 percent gain.
The European averages, which closed mixed last Friday despite the U.S. jobs report, are trading modestly lower. Financial and transport stocks are seeing weakness, while the resource space is seeing modest buying interest.
On the economic front, a measure of investor sentiment in the euro zone region dropped 3.5 points to 10.9 in May, according to a private survey. Economists had expected the sentix index to show a more modest decline to 9.2.
A report released by Eurostat showed that the region's annual producer price inflation slowed to 6.7 percent in April from 6.8 percent in March. Nevertheless, the rate was a tick higher than the 6.6 percent forecast by economists.
The dollar is firmer after its steep decline against the euro last week and the yen is adding to its strength, while crude oil is weaker, trading in the mid-$99 a barrel level, ahead of the OPEC meeting scheduled for this week.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.