(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street, weighed by worries over Spain's finances, while investors also mulled the European Union summit at the end of the week.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures lost 92.00 points to 12,476.00. The Nasdaq Futures shed 16.75 points to 2,556.75. Standard and Poor's 500 futures dipped 11.10 points to 1,315.70.
On the US economic front, new home sales data is due at 10.00 am ET and the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index at 10.30 am ET.
Earlier today, the Spanish government formally requested aid from the European Union for up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to recapitalize its struggling banks.
On Friday, U.S. stocks closed in green, rebounding from sharp losses yesterday, as investors discounted Moody's credit ratings downgrade of 15 of the world's biggest banks.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: RIMM, SHPGY, WPI, FB, SNDK
In corporate news, Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) is considering separating its ailing handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, The Sunday Times reported. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) could be potential buyers, the paper reported.
Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) slumped 12.46 percent in premarket after the U.S. regulators have approved a generic version of one of its drugs treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the application from Watson Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: WPI) Actavis unit to market generic version of Shire's Adderall XR. WPI stocks rose 2.22 percent in premarket.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) added 1.29 percent in premarket. Goldman Sachs (GS) upgraded rating on shares of the maker of flash memory products to "Buy" from "Neutral".
Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Standard Microsystems Corp. (NASDAQ:SMSC) and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) are set report their quarterly earnings after the market closes.
Global Markets:
Most European markets retreated sharply, with Germany's DAX tumbling 1.77 percent to trade at 6,152.19. France's CAC40 lost 1.99 percent to trade at 3,029.47. U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.74 percent to trade at 5,473.15.
Asian markets fell tracking global cues, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dropped 1.63 percent to trade at 2,224.11. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.51 percent to close at 18,897.45. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 0.72 percent to end at 8,734.62. India's BSE Sensex finished at 16,882.51, down 0.53 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures dropped 0.95 percent to $79.00 per barrel. Gold futures added 0.17 percent to $1,569.6 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro traded 0.66 percent lower against the U.S. dollar at 1.2487, and the British pound dipped 0.21 percent against the greenback at 1.5555. The dollar lost 0.87 percent against the Japanese yen at 79.7300.