(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on the Wall Street after weak data from Japan added to the evidence that global growth is slowing.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures dropped 12 points to 13,160. The Nasdaq futures inched up 1.00 point to 2,722. Standard and Poor's 500 futures fell 1.10 points to 1,401.30.
Japan's gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.4 percent in the April-June period, verus an expansion of 5.5 percent in the prior quarter, according to a report from Cabinet Office. Economists projected a growth of 2.3 percent.
Last week, a data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed Chinese exports increased a slower rate, up just 1 percent versus a growth of 11.3 percent in June and well below economists expectations of a gain of 8 percent.
On Friday, U.S. stocks closed in green, turning positive late in the day, as hopes of further action from major central banks offset a weaker-than-expected Chinese export and import data.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: GOOG, FB, XLNX, GRPN, SYY
In corporate news, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) added 1.21 percent in premarket. In a regulatory filing, the search-engine giant disclosed that roughly 4,000 jobs will be cut at its Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. unit. Google expects to record a charge of no greater than $275 million in 2012 as a result of the changes which also includes closing of nearly a third of Motorola's offices.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) gained 1.21 percent in premarket. Reed Hastings, one of its directors and the chief executive of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), has bought roughly $1 million worth of shares in the social media company at an average price of $21.03, according to a regulatory filing.
SYSCO Corp. (NYSE:SYY) may be in focus after the distributor of frozen foods posted its quarterly results. The company posted a fall in earnings for the fourth quarter as it recorded charges related to a multi-employer pension plan withdrawal. Sales rose 5.9 percent.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) may be in focus. The San Jose, California-based developer of programmable logic devices announced that it will buyback up to $750 million of its stock.
Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) rose 2.82 percent ahead of its second-quarter results. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect the online deals site to earn 3 cents a share on revenue of $573.1 million.
Global Markets:
European markets traded mixed, with Germany's DAX up 0.08 percent to trade at 6,949.82. France's CAC40 gained 0.15 percent to 3,440.89. U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.19 percent to trade at 5,836.04.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index tumbled 1.51 percent to finish at 2,136.08. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.07 percent to end at 8,885.15. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.27 percent to end at 20,081.36. India's BSE Sensex finished at 17,633.45, up 0.43 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures rose 0.67 percent to $93.49 per barrel. Gold futures inched up 0.02 percent to $1,623.2 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro advanced 0.53 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.2355 and the British pound rose 0.11 percent against the greenback to 1.5707. The dollar added 0.12 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.3600.