Futures point to lower U.S. open as election, terrorism weigh on investors.
U.S. stocks were poised for a pullback early Monday after Spanish voters rejected the government that backed the American military effort in Iraq -- a position that may have led to last week's deadly terrorist attack.
At 8: 55 a.m. ET Monday, futures pointed to a lower open for the major indexes, thwarting any momentum from an end-of-the-week advance.
The Socialist Party won a sweeping victory in Sunday's national election in Spain, ousting the ruling Popular Party after eight years in office. Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promised Monday to remove Spanish troops from Iraq in the next few months.
The victory came just days after an attack on trains in Madrid killed 200 people. There have been claims that al-Qaeda was behind the attack.
Besides causing problems for the U.S.-backed effort in Iraq, the election underscores the risk of terrorism and the potential it has to affect government change -- uncertainty that investors don't appreciate.
European markets fell in early trading Monday in response to the Spanish election results and renewed terrorism concern. But Asian-Pacific stocks closed with gains; Tokyo's Nikkei index was 1.4 percent higher. (Check the latest on world markets)
The markets rallied Friday after some positive analyst comments on Dell and a chance to get over some of the jitters caused by the apparent terrorist attack in Spain. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.1 percent while the Nasdaq composite index was 2.1 percent higher; the gains weren't enough to keep the indexes from posting losses for the week (see chart for details).
The week started off with some economic reports before the opening bell.
The government's report on industrial production is seen showing a 0.4 percent rise in February, after a 0.8 percent advance in January, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Capacity utilization is forecast at 76.4 percent, up from 76.2 percent.
Also out before the open was the Empire State index for New York manufacturing.
The report showed manufacturing activity in New York state decelerated in early March, the New York Federal Reserve said Monday, falling well short of Wall Street forecasts.
The "general business conditions" index of the New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey of about 100 regional manufacturers dropped to 25.3 from 42 in February. Economists, on average, expected the index to fall to 38.9, according to Briefing.com.
Among stocks moving in pre-market trading, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) gained about 0.5 percent. The No. 1 software maker is expected to face sanctions and steep fines for breaking European Union antitrust law, according to a draft decision expected to win endorsement on Monday from an advisory committee to the 15 EU states.
Treasury prices rallied in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.72 percent from 3.77 percent late Friday. The dollar weakened against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures advanced 9 cents to $31.78 a barrel in London, where gold was higher.
Among the stocks to watch Monday is Electronic Data Systems (EDS: Research, Estimates). The nation's No. 2 tech services provider agreed Sunday to sell a software development unit to a consortium of three buyout firms for $2.05 billion. EDS shares rose 32 cents to $19.15 Friday.
U.S. stocks were poised for a pullback early Monday after Spanish voters rejected the government that backed the American military effort in Iraq -- a position that may have led to last week's deadly terrorist attack.
At 8: 55 a.m. ET Monday, futures pointed to a lower open for the major indexes, thwarting any momentum from an end-of-the-week advance.
The Socialist Party won a sweeping victory in Sunday's national election in Spain, ousting the ruling Popular Party after eight years in office. Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promised Monday to remove Spanish troops from Iraq in the next few months.
The victory came just days after an attack on trains in Madrid killed 200 people. There have been claims that al-Qaeda was behind the attack.
Besides causing problems for the U.S.-backed effort in Iraq, the election underscores the risk of terrorism and the potential it has to affect government change -- uncertainty that investors don't appreciate.
European markets fell in early trading Monday in response to the Spanish election results and renewed terrorism concern. But Asian-Pacific stocks closed with gains; Tokyo's Nikkei index was 1.4 percent higher. (Check the latest on world markets)
The markets rallied Friday after some positive analyst comments on Dell and a chance to get over some of the jitters caused by the apparent terrorist attack in Spain. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.1 percent while the Nasdaq composite index was 2.1 percent higher; the gains weren't enough to keep the indexes from posting losses for the week (see chart for details).
The week started off with some economic reports before the opening bell.
The government's report on industrial production is seen showing a 0.4 percent rise in February, after a 0.8 percent advance in January, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Capacity utilization is forecast at 76.4 percent, up from 76.2 percent.
Also out before the open was the Empire State index for New York manufacturing.
The report showed manufacturing activity in New York state decelerated in early March, the New York Federal Reserve said Monday, falling well short of Wall Street forecasts.
The "general business conditions" index of the New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey of about 100 regional manufacturers dropped to 25.3 from 42 in February. Economists, on average, expected the index to fall to 38.9, according to Briefing.com.
Among stocks moving in pre-market trading, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) gained about 0.5 percent. The No. 1 software maker is expected to face sanctions and steep fines for breaking European Union antitrust law, according to a draft decision expected to win endorsement on Monday from an advisory committee to the 15 EU states.
Treasury prices rallied in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.72 percent from 3.77 percent late Friday. The dollar weakened against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures advanced 9 cents to $31.78 a barrel in London, where gold was higher.
Among the stocks to watch Monday is Electronic Data Systems (EDS: Research, Estimates). The nation's No. 2 tech services provider agreed Sunday to sell a software development unit to a consortium of three buyout firms for $2.05 billion. EDS shares rose 32 cents to $19.15 Friday.
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