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Following Friday's surprising late-session rally, futures indicate a lower open for the mkt amid weakness in Asia, a downgrade of Citigroup (C) and a Q4 earnings warning from home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW). Dow futures are currently ; Nasdaq futures are currently ; S&P futures are currently .

Mkts in Asia closed lower after China's banking regulator told banks to cool loan growth that's already topped its target ceiling of 15% this year. Note, though, that the WSJ reported this morning that Chinese regulators have actually ordered China's commercial banks to freeze lending through the end of the year.

In the financial sector, Goldman Sachs downgraded Citigroup to Sell, while cutting its price ests on a number of brokers, including MER, MS, LEH, BSC, JPM and ETFC. It's also worth noting that the Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) CEO Fred Goodwin has been informally approached by Citigroup to become its new CEO. Lowe's reported mixed Q3 numbers, but issued downside EPS guidance for Q4 of $0.25-0.29 vs. the $0.36 consensus...

There are several M&A deals announced this morning. Celgene (CELG) acquired Pharmion (PHRM) for $2.9 bln, or $72/shr in cash and stock. SABMiller has offered $1.2 bln to acquire rival Grolsch. Finally, TomTom has reportedly launched its 30 euro per share ($4.2 bln) offer for Tele Atlas after rival Garmin (GRMN) abandoned its attempt on Friday...

The Bond mkt is only slightly higher in the early going, despite the weakness in equity futures following the downgrade of Citigroup and after insurer Swiss Re said it expects a SFR1.2 bln write-down from exposure to credit default swaps. The 10-yr is currently +03/32 TO 4.155%...

Notable pre-market Calls include Upgrades: CAT at UBS, BBY at Wachovia, QCOM at JP Morgan, X at Soleil, DISH at Citi; Downgrades: C at Goldman, FNM at Friedman Billings, UBS at CIBC... On the Earnings calendar, 11 cos are confirmed to report after the close, including HPQ...