Stock Futures Slump on Global Concerns

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were pointing lower Monday with the markets anxious over global growth prospects and the progress on fixing the European debt crisis.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were slumping 47 points, or 49.47 points below fair value, at 13,453. Futures for the S&P 500 were falling 5.10 points, or 6.70 points below fair value, at 1447. Futures for the Nasdaq were slipping more than 8 points, or 11.04 points below fair value, at 2844.

The major U.S. equity averages finished mixed on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its first down week of the month.

Adam Sarhan, founder and CEO of Sarhan Capital, said the markets are "extended" right now, saying he will "let more time pass before returning to or adding to our positions."

The market mood was souring Monday amid reports that Germany and France were clashing on the timeline for introducing a banking union, while rumors were circulating that Greece's budget shortfall was a lot greater than previously expected, though the Greek Ministry of Finance refuted the reports.

The nervous atmosphere was also being fed by data showing that the German Ifo index on business confidence unexpectedly declined this month, and a CBB International report indicating that optimism among Chinese manufacturers and retailers about sales have dimmed compared with three months ago and that they were reducing headcount.

Over the weekend, a People's Bank of China official warned that the country's slowing economy could extend into next year.

The FTSE in London was down 0.54% and the DAX in Germany was falling 0.62%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished down by 0.19% on Monday and the Nikkei in Japan settled behind by 0.45%.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was rising 10/32, pushing the yield down to 1.722%. The greenback was up 0.45%, according to the dollar index.

November crude oil futures were losing $1.33 to $91.56 a barrel. December gold futures were dropping $18.50 at $1,759.50.

In corporate news, Lennar (LEN), the homebuilder, posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 40 cents a share. Revenue in the quarter rose 34% to $1.1 billion. Shares were popping nearly 4% in premarket trading.

Software company Red Hat (RHT) is expected to report fiscal second-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $322.1 million.

Red Hat is expected to issue its earnings after Monday's closing bell.

Shares were adding more than 2%.

Redbox, a unit of Coinstar (CSTR) and Verizon (VZ) plan to offer subscription streaming, movie sales and rentals by Christmas, along with DVDs from the local kiosk, Bloomberg reported..

The venture, 65%-owned by Verizon, will challenge Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon.com (AMZN) for consumers who watch movies online and on mobile devices.

Coinstar shares were up more than 1%.

Yahoo! (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer is expected Tuesday to unveil her strategy for the struggling Internet giant.

Mayer shared her vision for Yahoo! with the board on Friday. She called the Tuesday meeting, in an internal memo to employees, "an act of radical transparency that will be a tradition moving forward," according to All Things Digital.

Yahoo shares were up fractionally.

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--Written by Andrea Tse in New York.



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