(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures retreated on Monday as a steep fall in oil prices rattled investors.
At 8:21 am ET,
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures declined 7.80 points to 885.50.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 71 points to 8170.
Nasdaq Composite Index futures fell 10.25 points to 1435.
Early on Monday,
EMC Corp. (
NYSE: EMC) announced that it has increased its offer to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Data Domain Inc. to $33.50 per share in cash, for a total enterprise value of approximately $2.1 billion, net of cash.
A bankruptcy judge has approved
General Motors Corp. plan to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the carmaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection. Judge Robert Gerber gave his approval late Sunday after three days of hearings last week, saying it "is the only available means to preserve the continuation of GM's business."
Late on Thursday,
LDK Solar Co. (
NYSE:: LDK) said it expects to report revenue in the range of $215 million to $225 million in the fiscal second quarter. Analysts currently expect the company to report revenue of $253.4 million.
Global miner
Rio Tinto (
NYSE: RTP) on Monday agreed to sell its Americas food packaging business for $1.2 billion, and analysts said they expected more asset sales to follow soon.
Investors focus this week will turn towards corporate earnings announcements and forecasts for the rest of the year. Aluminum maker
Alcoa Inc. (
NYSE: AA), the first of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrials to report second-quarter results, will kick off earnings season on Wednesday.
US stocks plunged on Thursday after weaker-than-expected jobs data dented hopes of a rapid economic recovery.
On the earnings front, ISM services index is due for release at 10:00 am ET.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:58 pm London time, the UK FTSE fell 56.62 points or 1.34% to 4,179.66. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.58% and 1.521.
Asian stocks finished with losses. The Nikkei 225 dropped 135.20 points or 1.38% to 9,680.87. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong subtracted 223.99 points or 1.23% to end at 17,979.41.
Crude oil for August delivery declined as much as $3.07 or 4.6% to $63.65 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here
