(By Balaseshan) U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on
the Wall Street amid continuing political uncertainty in Greece.
Mini Dow industrial average futures fell 91.00 points to 12,697.00.
The Nasdaq Futures lost 19.50 points to 2,591.25. Standard and Poor's
500 futures fell 11.70 points to 1,338.30.
There is no first tier
domestic economic data scheduled for Monday. In Greece, talks to form a
coalition government failed, meaning the country may have to face new
elections. Greece's possible exit from the euro area has moved to the
center of Europe's debt-crisis debate. The political turmoil has taken a
toll on markets.
On Friday, U.S. stocks closed on a slightly lower note as investors
weighed an upbeat data on U.S. consumer sentiment against disclosure by
JP Morgan Chase of $2 billion trading losses on a failed hedging
strategy.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: JPM, AVP, YHOO, CXO, CHK, ACOM
JPMorgan
Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) dipped 1 percent in premarket. According to
Reuters, three top executives involved with a failed hedging strategy
that cost JPMorgan at least $2 billion and tarnished its reputation are
expected to leave the bank this week. The company said Friday that it
suffered a hefty $2 billion trading loss in its synthetic credit
portfolio.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE:AVP) gained 5.50 percent in premarket after
the company's board said it would consider Coty's revised $10.7 billion
takeover offer and it expected to respond within a week.
Yahoo!
Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) increased 2.04 percent in premarket after the
company's board has named Ross Levinsohn as interim CEO, effective
immediately, replacing former CEO Scott Thompson, who resigned over the
resume padding scandal. Yahoo! also replaced Roy Bostock with Fred
Amoroso as Chairman. The company also said it has agreed with Third
Point to settle its pending proxy contest.
Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO) rose 0.93 percent in premarket after
the company agreed to buy all the oil and natural gas assets of Three
Rivers Operating Co. for $1.0 billion in cash. The acquisition is
expected to close in July 2012. The company said it plans to divest $200
million to $400 million of certain non-core assets from the acquisition
and its existing assets over the next nine months.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK) gained 6.01 percent in premarket
after the company secured $3.0 billion unsecured loan from Goldman Sachs
Bank USA and affiliates of Jefferies Group Inc. to enhance its
financial flexibility.
Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ:ACOM) fell 15.14 percent in premarket after
the company's television series show Who Do You Think You Are? was not
renewed by NBC.
Global Markets:
The
European markets traded lower hurt by Greek uncertainty, with Germany's
DAX falling 2.17 percent to trade at 6,437.01. France's CAC40 slumped
2.52 percent to 3,050.93. Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 2.23 percent to
5,451.05.
Asian markets ended mixed on political uncertainty in Europe. The
Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.60 percent to end at $2,380.73. Hong
Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.15 percent to close at 19,735.04. Japan's Nikkei
225 edged 0.23 percent higher to close at 8,973.84. India's BSE Sensex
finished at 16,215.84, down 0.47 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil lost 2.09 percent to $94.12 per barrel. Gold fell 1.60 percent to $1,558.70 per ounce.
In
the currency market, the euro shed 0.60 percent against the U.S. dollar
at 1.2839 and the British pound edged 0.02 percent higher against the
greenback to 1.6075. The dollar dipped 0.16 percent against the Japanese
yen to 79.8100.