US pre-open: Futures mixed as investors await Q3 retail earnings

Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Monday as investors awaited more Q3 earnings reports.

As of 1245 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.19%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.05% and 0.33% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 305.87 points lower on Friday as the blue-chip's record-setting post-election rally came to a screeching halt last week.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "This time last week, all the majors were trading at record levels, having rallied sharply after Trump's victory in the Presidential Election. That week saw the S&P post its best week in over a year. But equities subsequently tumbled, posting their worst week in two months.

"The sell-off accelerated as updates on CPI and PPI suggested that inflation remains an issue. This could force the Federal Reserve to slow down the process of normalising its Fed Funds rate. This view was compounded after Fed Chair Powell stated that the US central bank should be in 'no hurry' to lower rates. The CME's Fed Watch Tool is forecasting just 75 basis points-worth of rate cuts between now and the end of December next year."

In the corporate space, budget airline Spirit has explored the idea of filing for bankruptcy protection amid rising debt and consecutive losing quarters, while electric carmaker Tesla shares surged in pre-market trading on the back of news that president-elect Donald Trump intends to relax regulation on self-driving vehicles.

Nvida, Palo Alto Networks, Walmart and Target will all report earnings before the end of the week.

On the macro front, the National Association of House Builders' November housing market index will be published at 1500 GMT.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com