US pre-open: Futures trade lower ahead of week of retail earnings, data

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Monday ahead of some key retail data and earnings slated for later in the week.

As of 1300 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.09%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.06% and 0.16% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 466.36 points higher on Friday, snapping a six-day losing streak for the blue-chip index.

Major indices looked set to continue their recent downward trajectory prior to the opening bell despite ending last week on a positive note as investors switched into relief rally mode and the Nasdaq registers its best daily gain since November 2020, led by hard-hit tech and growth stocks. All three averages still posted losing weeks.

Disappointing Chinese economic numbers were in focus ahead of the bell, with data showing that China's zero-tolerance policy had caused industrial output and consumer spending to slump and hit their lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with industrial output falling 2.9% in April and retail sales contracting 11.1%. The unemployment rate also climbed to 6.1.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US futures are kick-starting the week on the back foot as disappointing Chinese economic numbers have buffeted economic sentiment further.

"The data has made traders anxious about the global economic outlook. The general trend is likely to prevail in the market, which is that the dollar index continues to act as a safe haven, Treasuries will soar, and oil prices may move further lower; this shows that this week could be another week of weakness for the global equity markets. Market players are highly concerned that a recession is likely to happen, and central banks from the developed world are increasing the interest rates when economic growth is slowing down. Geopolitical tensions aren't going away as Finland and Sweden's intentions of applying for NATO aren't helping the Russia and Ukraine conflict situation."

On the macro front, May's New York Empire State manufacturing index will be published at 1330 BST.

No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Monday but the likes of Walmart, Target, and Home Depot will all report before the week is throughout.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com