US pre-open: Futures lower as USD surges against GBP

Wall Street futures had stocks opening lower ahead of the bell on Monday as a surging dollar and heightened bond yields took centre stage.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.64%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had indices opening 0.70% and 0.60% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 486.21 points lower on Friday amid concerns that the central bank's aggressive monetary policy may send the US economy into a recession.

In focus early on Monday was news that the British pound dropped to a record low against the US dollar, with Sterling falling 4% to an all-time low of $1.0382 as the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, paired with tax cuts announced by the UK last week caused the greenback to surge.

The bond market was also drawing an amount of investor attention ahead of the bell, with the 2-year Treasury note and its benchmark 10-year counterpart both up more than seven basis points at 4.287% and 3.763%, respectively.

On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index for August will be published at 1330 BST, while Boston Fed president Susan Collins, Atlanta head Raphael Bostic and Cleveland president Loretta Mester will deliver speeches at 1500 BST, 1700 BST, and 2100 BST, respectively.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com