After showing notable weakness on Friday, stocks are set to open well below the unchanged line again on Monday. The major index futures are currently indicating a moderately lower open, with the Dow futures currently down 66 points.
Helping to push the futures lower is some skepticism about a pledge from world leaders to tax less and spend more to help the world economy out of the funk that has led to stock prices dropping 40 percent this year.
Over the weekend, members of the G20 pledged to stimulate domestic demand and to continue efforts to stabilize the financial system by ensuring that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have enough resources to help countries overcome the crisis.
The meeting ended with a decision to avoid raising barriers to trade for 2009, to delegate additional money to the International Monetary Fund, and create regulatory bodies to detect risky investment.
On the corporate front, Citigroup (C) may be cutting as many as 50,000 jobs, CNBC reported, to bring the company's work force to approximately 300,000 worldwide. These cuts are expected to occur in a relatively short period of time, such as over the next five or six months.
Meanwhile, top executives at Goldman Sachs (GS) will not receive bonuses for 2008, the company said Sunday. According to a company spokesman, the seven executives, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein, made the decision to forego cash or stock bonuses themselves.
The decision was announced just days after words of warning from the U.S. Senate that federal rescue funds should not be used for bank executive pay.
Economic data is likely to drive the markets this week, with traders keeping a close eye on reports on consumer and wholesale price inflation. Reports on housing starts, industrial production, and regional manufacturing may also attract some attention.
Earlier this morning, the New York Federal Reserve released its report on conditions for New York manufacturers in the month of November, showing that conditions continued to deteriorate.
The report showed that the general business conditions index edged down to a negative 25.4 in November from a negative 24.6 in October, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in activity in the sector. Economists had expected to index to fall to a negative 26.0.
Shortly before the start of trading, the Federal Reserve is due to release its report on industrial production in the month of October. Economists expect production to edge up by 0.2 percent in October following a steep 2.8 percent decrease in September.
After spending most of Friday's session in negative territory, stocks ultimately ended the day markedly lower after briefly climbing into positive territory during the last hour of trading. The weakness came as investors reacted to disappointing economic news along with some negative corporate news.
The major averages pulled back sharply going into the close of trading, ending the session at or near their worst levels of the day. The Dow closed down 3.8 percent, the Nasdaq closed down 5 percent and the S&P 500 closed down 4.2 percent.
With the losses on Friday, the major averages all closed lower for the week, adding to the losses posted last week. The Dow fell 5 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 posted weekly losses of 7.9 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures are seeing additional weakness and are trading down $0.57 at $56.47 a barrel after receding $4 or 6.5 percent to $57.04 a barrel in the week ended November 14th. The continued price decrease reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for demand.
Meanwhile, gold futures are currently trading down $5.40 at $737.10 an ounce. In the previous week, the price of gold rose $8.30 or 1.1 percent to $742.50 an ounce.
On the currency front, the dollar finished last week on a mixed note. The dollar eased 1.2 percent against the yen to 97.07 yen, while it advanced 1.1 percent against the euro to $1.2606. Currently, a dollar is trading at 96.345 yen and is worth $1.2645 versus the euro.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower on Monday after Wall Street plunged Friday following a record drop in retail sales and as Japan's economy slid into a recession for the first time since 2001.
The major European markets are have also come under pressure after showing a lack of direction earlier in the session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is posting a 1.6 percent loss, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down 2.1 percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.