U.S. stock futures steady to start the week - MarketWatch

U.S. stock futures steady to start the week - MarketWatch

The dollar was on the back foot against a number of rivals on jitters about inflation in the euro area, the U.K. and Australia.

Of companies in focus, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO:

YHOO) is expected to reject Microsoft's (MSFT:

MSFT) $44.6 billion takeover bid, while Microsoft is expected to take its offer directly to shareholders. Yahoo also may explore a combination with Time Warner's (TWX:

TWX) AOL, according to a report in The Times (of London).

Yahoo shares rose to $29.31 in pre-open deals. Microsoft was down a fraction of a percentage point.

Motorola (MOT:

MOT) and Nortel Networks (NT:

NT) are in talks to merge their wireless-infrastructure arms in a deal that could lead to the creation of a firm with $10 billion in annual sales, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Overseas, the Hang Seng dropped 3.6% as trading resumed after the lunar new year break. Losses were even steeper in Mumbai as Reliance Power's IPO disappointed some traders.

In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.5% after the biggest rise in British wholesale inflation in 16 years