(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street ahead of meeting of euro-zone finance ministers and second-quarter results from Alcoa even as some soft growth data from Asia dented sentiment.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures lost 33 points to 12,694. The Nasdaq Futures shed 0.5 points to 2,608.5. Standard and Poor's 500 futures edged 3.7 points lower to 1,348.1.
In Asia news, a government report showed China's annual consumer price inflation slowed more than expected in June to 2.2 percent from 3.0 percent in May. Meanwhile, Japan's Cabinet Office reported that machinery orders - a measure for capital spending - plunged 14.8 percent in May from the prior month, the biggest fall in more than a decade.
On the European front, Spanish and Italian 10-year bond yields rose ahead of talks between euro-zone finance chiefs later in the day over the region's debt woes.
U.S. stocks closed on a sharply lower note on Friday after a government data showed the world's largest economy added fewer jobs than forecast in June, renewing worries that the growth is losing momentum.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: AA, WLP, AGP, FX, SIRI
In corporate news, Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA), the world's biggest aluminum maker, is set to release its quarterly report after the market closes. Market expectations call in for earnings of 6 cents a share on revenue of $5.81 billion for the second quarter. Shares edged lower in premarket.
WellPoint Inc. (NYSE:WLP) rose 5.16 percent in premarket after the health benefit company said it is acquiring smaller peer Amerigroup Corp. (NYSE:AGP) for $92.00 per share or around $4.9 billion in cash at a 43 percent premium. AGP shares soared 37.97 percent in premarket.
Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) gained 3.18 percent in premarket after the New York-based company increased its subscriber and revenue forecast for the full year.
FX Alliance Inc. (NYSE:FX) jumped 39.49 percent in premarket after the provider of electronic foreign exchange trading services agreed to be acquired by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE:TRI)for $22 per share. The deal represents a 40.1 percent premium over Friday's stock closing price of FX.
A. Schulman Inc. (NASDAQ:SHLM) PriceSmart Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) and WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ:WDFC) are due to report their quarterly numbers after the closing bell.
Global Markets:
European markets traded mixed, with Germany's DAX adding 0.09 percent to trade at 6,415.94. France's CAC40 fell 0.09 percent to trade at 3,166.09. U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.28 percent to trade at 5,647.01.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index tumbled 2.35 percent to close at 2,171.32. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.37 percent to end at 8,896.88. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 1.88 percent to end at 19,428.09. India's BSE Sensex finished at 17,391.98, down 0.74 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures rose 0.60 percent to $84.960 per barrel. Gold futures advanced 0.41 percent to $1,585.4 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro traded 0.11 percent higher against the U.S. dollar at 1.2303 and the British pound inched up 0.03 percent against the greenback to 1.5494. The dollar shed 0.16 percent against the Japanese yen at 79.5300.