(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower on the Wall Street as fresh worries over the deepening economic crisis in Europe weighed on the sentiment.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures retreated 182 points to 12,591. The Nasdaq Futures fell 39.25 points to 2,574. Standard and Poor's 500 futures dropped 17.70 points to 1,340.50.
With no major domestic economic data scheduled for the day, investors weighed developments in Europe.
The yield on Spain's 10-year government bonds jumped to 7.45 percent, above the 7 percent level at which Greece and Portugal were forced to seek bailouts. Spain's Murcia region has reportedly sought help from the government for financial aid after Valencia.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has indicated that it may not participate in further aid for Greece, Germany's Der Spiegel reported quoting unidentified officials in the European Union.
On Friday, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower as fresh worries over Spain's debt woes and a slew of mixed corporate earnings reports dented sentiment.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: MCD, NRG, HAL, HAS, GEN, TXN, ONXX
In corporate news, McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) retreated 2.44 percent in premarket after the Oak Brook, Illinois-based restaurant operator posted results for the second quarter that fell short of market expectations.
NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) jumped 13.57 percent in premarket after the Princeton, New Jersey-based power generation company agreed to acquire rival Genon Energy Inc. (NYSE:GEN) for $1.7 billion in shares to create the largest U.S. independent power producer.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) rose 1.40 percent in premarket after the oilfield services company posted quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street estimates, spurred by double-digit revenue growth at all of its regions
Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on lower costs and the toy maker sees growth for the full year, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. However, revenue fell and missed Wall Street projections on top-line decreases at two of its segments. Shares added 1.36 percent in premarket.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) is due to post its quarterly results after the market closes. The Dallas, Texas-based chipmaker is expected to earn 41 cents a share on revenue of $3.35 billion.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) may be in focus after the South San Francisco, California-based biopharmaceutical company reported that a late-stage trial of Tarceva tablets in combination with Nexavar tablets to treat a form of liver cancer did not improve overall survival. Nexavar is jointly developed by Bayer and Onyx. Tarceva is jointly marketed by Astellas and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.
Global Markets:
European markets traded sharply lower amid worries over the region's debt woes. Germany's DAX is down 2.06 percent to trade at 6,493.39. France's CAC40 declined 2.15 percent to trade at 3,125.07. U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 2.05 percent to trade at 5,535.80.
Asian markets closed lower tracking global cues, with China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index falling 1.26 percent to finish at 2,141.40. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.86 percent to end at 8,508.32. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 2.99 percent to end at 19,053.47. India's BSE Sensex finished at 16,877.35, down 1.64 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures declined 3.47 percent to $88.640 per barrel. Gold futures dropped 1.11 percent to $1,565.3 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro traded 0.58 percent lower against the U.S. dollar at 1.2088 and the British pound slipped 0.70 percent against the greenback to 1.5512. The dollar shed 0.29 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.2500.