Indications: Monday futures point to modest Wall Street gains

Monday, June 7, 2010

Indications: Monday futures point to modest Wall Street gains

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock index futures edged slightly higher Monday following heavy losses in the previous session, though plenty of worries remained over the euro and the sustainability of the U.S. economic recovery.

S&P 500 futures rose 3 points at 1,069.10, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 13 points to 9,959.00. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.25 points to 1,839.50.

Afghan Security Chiefs Resign

Afghan President Karzai accepts the resignation of his intelligence chief and Interior Minister after security lapses at peace conference. Video courtesy of Reuters.

U.S. stocks tumbled sharply on Friday after the government's reported rise in May nonfarm payrolls fell short of expectations. Analysts said the impact of the disappointing data was still being felt at the start of the week amid an atmosphere of overall risk aversion. Read about May non-farm payrolls.

"I still think the nonfarm payrolls are having a negative effect. There's a bit of a hangover effect. ... They put any growth concerns back into the forefront of investors' minds," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.

Asian shares fell sharply to start the trading week as markets played catch-up to Wall Street's Friday decline, analysts said. European shares were lower as investors pondered growth concerns and worries about the euro.

Hungary on Friday became the latest country to apply added pressure to the euro, sending the single currency to new four-year lows. The single currency pared losses Monday to trade at $1.1976, little changed from Friday.

Hungarian officials had roiled the markets with warnings that the nation was on the verge of a Greece-style default. Over the weekend, officials attempted to soothe worries, saying the country would meet its deficit target. Read about Hungary.

The situation has served to highlight concerns about the exposure of European banks to Hungary and to add to tensions surrounding sovereign-debt problems in the single-currency region, economists said.

/quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed DJIA 9,932, -323.31, -3.15%

Meanwhile, shares of BP /quotes/comstock/23s!a:bp. (UK:BP. 442.80, +9.45, +2.18%) /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 37.16, -2.11, -5.37%) rose 2.8% in London on Monday and were expected to remain in the spotlight. The company said that the cap installed last week over a portion of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to capture oil and that the amount collected is expected to increase over coming days.

In energy trading, oil futures were down 5 cents at $71.46 a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 9,932, -323.31, -3.15%) dropped 323 points, or 3.2%, on Friday to close the week at 9,931.97. The S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,065, -37.95, -3.44%) fell 3.4% for a weekly decline of 2.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,219, -83.86, -3.64%) lost 3.6% to finish with a weekly loss of 1.7%.