US pre-open: Futures head lower amid disappointing Chinese data as investors await earnings

US stock futures edged lower on Monday, as the latest Chinese data did little to lift morale among investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open down approximately 19 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both set to begin the first session of the week two points lower.

Chinese data disappoints

Asian stocks began the week on a mixed note, as data figures released on Monday showed the Chinese economy expanded at its slowest pace in six years.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product rose 6.9% in the third quarter compared with 7% in the first two quarters.

This was better than the 6.8% forecast by economists but still the worst rate of growth since the first quarter of 2009.

“Today’s data suggest that while the official GDP figures continue to overstate the actual pace of growth in China by a significant margin, underlying conditions are subdued but stable,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics.

“Looking ahead, our view continues to be that stronger fiscal spending and more rapid credit growth will limit the downside risks to growth over the coming quarters.”

Meanwhile, Chinese industrial production rose 5.7% in September, missing economists’ expectations of a 6% gain, while retail sales were up 10.9%, a touch ahead of the 10.8% increase expected.

Earnings season in focus

The economic calendar has little to offer on Monday, with a reading for the NAHB housing market index for September released at 1500 BST, while Richmond Federal Reserve’s president Jeffrey Lacker will speak at 1700 BST.

“There isn’t too much economic data being released this week, which will put more of an emphasis on corporate earnings season which got properly underway last week,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

In company news, Hasbro, Halliburton and Morgan Stanley are all set to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell, while IBM will report after the close.

Elsewhere, European stocks edged higher, while oil prices declined, as West Texas Intermediate shed 1.03% to $46.78 a barrel, while Brent tumbled 1.35% to $49.79 a barrel.

The dollar was on the front foot against the yen and the euro, gaining 0.13% and 0.32% respectively but fell 0.35% against the pound, while gold futures slid 0.37% to $1,172.97.