The negative momentum on Wall Street may gain ground on Monday, as a lack of major catalysts accentuates economic worries. The U.S. economy seems besieged from multiple fronts on account of slowing consumer spending, a weak take off by the job market, depressed housing market and fiscal concerns.
Besides, Fitch's downgrade of Greek debt and Standard & Poor's threat that it may cut Italy's credit rating sparked worries that there will be further calls for bailouts.
As of 6:30 am, the Dow futures are declining 118 points, the S&P 500 futures are down 13 points and Nasdaq futures are down 23 points.
U.S. stocks extended their declines in the week ended May 20th, with technology and retail stocks leading the retreat. The week's negativity stemmed from uncertainty surrounding the Euro zone debt crisis, some soft economic readings and weak outlook issued by some retailers.
The unfolding week's calendar suggests a flurry of activity for Main Street, although only a handful of the events have the potential to move markets.
There are no major economic releases for today. However, traders are likely to wait in anticipation for some key releases of the week. Particularly, the durable goods orders report for April, the weekly jobless claims, the Commerce Department's new home sales report for April and the National Association of Realtors' pending homes sales index for April are under the scanner.
Some Fed speeches, the Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal income and spending report for April, the final reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May, the preliminary first quarter GDP report, the Federal Housing Finance Association's house price index for March and Treasury auctions of 2-year, 5-year and 7-year notes round up the economic events of the week.
A slip back in transportation orders is expected to weigh on durable goods orders for April. Boeing (BA) reported just 2 orders for April compared to 98 for March and 21 for February. Meanwhile, new home sales may have stagnated in April, as existing homes flood the market by way of replenishment from foreclosures.
In corporate news, Fossil (FOSL) announced that a U.S. district court has preliminarily approved a settlement agreement in some lawsuits filed in 2006 concerning backdating of stock options. The settlement agreement provides for the company's former directors paying the company $8.7 million in addition to reimbursing certain legal expenses.
Pfizer (PFE) said the FDA has approved an expanded use of its Kidney cancer and gastrointestinal tumor treatment SUTENT for treating progressive well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Exelon (EXC) and Constellation Energy (CEG) is likely to move in reaction to their announcement that they have filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the approval of their proposed merger announced in late April.
Caterpillar (CAT) could also be in focus after it announced that it has received anti-trust clearance for its proposed $8.6 billion acquisition of Bucyrus. The deal is expected to be completed by the middle of 2011.
Campbell Soup (CPB) and Perry Ellis (PERY) are schedule to report before the markets open. After the markets close, Verigy (VRGY) and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) and Jamba (JMBA) are due to release their quarterly reports.
Asian stock markets fell sharply on Monday, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific index down over 2 percent, as a weak lead from Wall Street Friday and a sell-off in commodities including oil and base metals amid a stronger U.S. dollar curbed investors' appetite for risk.
The major European averages were down between 1.2 percent and 1.8 percent in early trading, with lingering sovereign debt woes coupled with the collapse of the Spanish ruling party in the regional elections on Sunday weighing on sentiment. Aviation stocks were among the prominent decliners on concerns that a volcanic eruption in Iceland will ground flights.
The euro weakened to a record low against the generally safe-haven Swiss franc and fell to a two-month low versus the dollar, as lingering worries over euro zone debt and world economic growth sapped demand for riskier assets and prompted investors to shift funds to U.S. government bonds, gold and the dollar.
Data released today by Markit Economics showed that Eurozone private sector growth slowed to a 7-month low of 55.4 in May from 57.8 in April, well below the consensus forecast for a reading of 57.4.
Elsewhere, growth in China's manufacturing sector eased to its lowest level in ten months in May as expansion in both new orders and production slowed, survey results from Markit Economics showed.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.