Stock Futures Suggest Slightly Lower Open

Updated from 6:55 a.m. EST

P/>A day before the U.S. elects a new president, premarket futures were suggesting a moderately lower open Monday as traders digested news of several merger setbacks prepared for another week full of quarterly earnings statements and turned their eyes toward Tuesday's presidential election .

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 3.7 points at 963.6 and were 3.8 points short of fair value. Nasdaq futures were higher by 12.3 points at 1335 and were 1.9 points below fair value.

Looking through corporate headlines, The Wall Street Journal reported that as many as 1,800 public companies could be signing up for investments by the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Meanwhile, leveraged-buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts was delaying plans to come public as the credit crisis hurt its capitalization standing. KKR said in a statement it would hold off on buying Amsterdam-listed KKR Private Equity until next year.

In other merger news, The Detroit News reported that Cerberus Capital, which owns Chrysler, has ceased discussions with Nissan-Renault because Cerberus intends on merging with General Motors (GM Quote).

Agricultural products maker Monsanto (MON Quote) announced its intent to buy Brazilian firm Aly Participacoes for $290 million.

Soft-drink maker PepsiCo (PEP Quote) announced it would invest $1 billion in China over the next four years in an effort to gain a foothold in emerging markets.

Airplane manufacturer Boeing (BA Quote) announced that a strike by the International Association of Machinists had ended after the company and union signed a four-year contract.

As for earnings, insurer PMI Group (PMI Quote) reported a wider third-quarter loss, and Goodyear Tire (GT Quote) announced a decline in quarterly profit.

In terms of economic data, the census bureau is set to release its construction spending figures for September. Also due out is the Institute for Supply Management's October manufacturing index.

The European Commission also reported that Europe is probably in a recession and will continue to struggle through the next year.

Shifting to commodities, crude oil was losing $1.16 to $66.65 a barrel. Gold was climbing $12.30 to $730.50 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were mixed. The 10-year was up 11/32, yielding 3.92%. The 30-year was dropping 14/32 to yield 4.36%. The dollar was falling vs. the yen and euro but gaining on the pound.

Credit markets were loosening. Three-month dollar Libor, a measure of the rate banks charge one another for large loans, was down 17 basis points to 2.86%. Overnight Libor slipped 2 basis points to 0.39%.

Abroad, European exchanges, including the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt, were mostly trading higher. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished on the upside.

(Photo gallery: Trading Faces)