AIG Weighs Down Stock Futures
Stock index futures in the U.S. were pointing to a weak open for Wall Street's major averages, as another sizable loss at
AIG
(AIG) - Get Report
and oil's continuing advance gave sellers the early advantage.
Futures on the
S&P 500
were sinking 7 points to 1385 and were 13 points under fair value. Nasdaq 100 futures were lower by 9 points at 1957 and were more than 14 points below fair value.
One of the early drags was AIG, a component of the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
, which was falling 7.3%. The selloff came a day after the insurer said it lost $7.81 billion in its first quarter because of big writedowns on credit-default swaps and mortgage-related investments.
Also depressing sentiment was oil's extended climb into uncharted territory. In recent electronic New York trading, crude futures were up $1.64 to $125.33 a barrel. On Thursday, oil closed at a record, then went past $124 for the first time in the extended session.
Elsewhere in the commodities complex, gold was up $4.70 to $886.80 an ounce, and silver tacked on 13 cents to $17.
Meanwhile, markets overseas were sinking. Tokyo's Nikkei fell 2.1% overnight, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.5%. Europe's major indices weren't much better. London's FTSE was losing 1.2%, and the Paris Cac was retreating 2.5%. Frankfurt's Dax was lower by 1.3%.
Treasury prices, though, were on the upswing. The 10-year note was adding 9/32 in price to yield 3.75%, and the 30-year bond was gaining 17/32 to lower the yield to 4.51%.
The dollar was weak against most of its competitors, including declines of more than 1.1% against both the yen and the Swiss franc. The euro rose 0.3% to $1.5454.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.