(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures retreated on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of release of auto sales data for the month of December.
At 8:27 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March declined 7 points to 918.40. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slumped 57 points to 8901. Nasdaq Composite Index futures fell 8 points to 1245.
President-elect Barack Obama is expected to include a massive $300 billion in tax cuts for middle class and business in his $775 billon stimulus plan meant to rescue US economy from a deepening recession.
The US Federal Reserve and ECB reiterated their commitment to fight the threat of deflation. In an annual meeting of the American Economics Association on Sunday, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said "It is increasingly likely that inflation will fall to undesirably low levels. The financial and economic firestorm we face today poses a serious risk of an extended period of stagnation -- a very grim outcome. Even with vigorous Fed action to restore credit flows, an extended period of economic weakness is likely. I'm strongly supportive of a substantial fiscal stimulus package. If ever, in my professional career, there was a time for active, discretionary fiscal stimulus, it is now." Vice President of ECB Lucas Papademos said in a statement "We will do what is necessary, in terms of the timing and in terms of the size (of interest rate policy action) to ensure that price stability is preserved."
Jeff Kindler, CEO Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), said that the world's largest pharmaceutical company) is open to acquisition opportunities. “The real goal is to grow revenues ... We are open to opportunities and constantly looking at those which are big, small and in-between,” Kindler said in a statement.
Times of London said in a report on Monday that Japanese electronic giant Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) may announce closures of Japanese factories and major units early in February. However Sony denied that it is contemplating any such plan. “We are not planning to announce further restructuring at this time,” a Sony spokesman said.
Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) said today that it has raised $412 million by selling various assets in the Anadarko and Arkoma Basins.
Early on Monday, CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) announced that its board has approved the adoption of a one-year stockholder rights plan, which will expire on December 31, 2009. Under the Plan, all stockholders of record as of the close of business on January 7 will receive a distribution of rights to purchase shares of a newly authorized series of preferred stock in the event of a tender offer for at least 15% of CKE's common stock.
Investors are keenly awaiting auto sales and truck sales data for the month of December, due for release at 14:00 am ET, Monday.
European markets were little changed in afternoon trade. At 13:08 pm London time, the U.K. FTSE fell 4,560.70 points or 0.02% to 4,546.70. The German DAX added 2.71 points or 0.05% while French CAC decreased 0.17%.
Asian stocks settled with hefty gains. The Nikkei 225 advanced 183.56 points or 2.07% to close at 9,043.12.Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 520.50 points or 3.46% to 15,563.31.
NYMEX Crude Oil for March delivery declined as much as 47 cents, or 1%, to $45.87 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
