US pre-open: Futures points to losses as traders look ahead to Q3 earnings season

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Monday as major indices looked set to fall short of picking up where they left off in the previous session as investors look ahead to the beginning of Q3 earnings season later in the week.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.41%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.48% and 0.64% weaker, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 341.16 points higher on Friday following a stronger-than-expected September jobs report.

Treasury yields were in focus early on Monday, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose almost three basis points to 4.008, the first time since August that it has topped 4%. The two-year note surged roughly seven basis points to also sit at roughly 4%.

Oil prices were also drawing an amount of investor attention amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon and Iran's retaliatory strike, with Brent crude up 2.08% at $79.67 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate 2.41% higher at $76.17.

Trade Nation's David Morisson said: "Today and tomorrow brings a clutch of second order economic releases. But things pick up on Wednesday with the release of minutes from last month’s FOMC meeting. Then there are two key inflation updates: CPI on Thursday and PPI on Friday. There will also be a succession of Fed speakers throughout the week. Just to round things off, the third quarter earnings season unofficially kicks off this week with Friday seeing updates from JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, the Bank of New York Mellon and Fastenal. US stock indices all closed out last month in positive territory. Can that momentum carry through into October – a month which has experienced some large drawdowns historically."

On the macro front, August consumer credit change data will be published at 2000 BST, while Federal Reserve bankers Michelle Bowman, Neel Kashkari, Raphael Bostic and Alberto Musalem will all deliver speeches throughout the course of the day.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com