US pre-open: Markets bucking the China trend

US markets looked to buck the trend started in China, which saw markets plunge last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was expected to open up by around 68 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to begin the session 10 and 19 points higher, respectively.

It’s another quiet day on the data front, with the Labor Market Conditions Index Change for December being released at 1500 GMT.

The Atlanta Fed’s Dennis Lockhart will speak on the US economic outlook at 1740 GMT and the Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak on the economy and monetary policy at 2250 GMT.

China worries persist

Elsewhere, Asian stocks were in the red as China lost further ground amid concerns about the slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.

The market plunged even without the so-called circuit breaker rule, which was suspended on Friday just four days after being introduced.

The mechanism, which suspends trading on China's main stock markets if the CSI 300 index falls 7%, was activated twice last week.

Meanwhile, data on Saturday showed China’s inflation rose to 1.6% year-on-year, as expected, compared with 1.5% the previous month.

However, the rate of factory gate deflation was unchanged at minus 5.9% in December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

“While China’s yuan currency was fixed slightly firmer, note Saturday’s Chinese inflation data which saw consumer price inflation edge up as expected to 1.6% but producer prices remain under pressure and fail to deliver the uptick expected by consensus,” said Mike van Dulken and Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets.

“This data will only add to hopes of more intervention by the People’s Bank of China to both buoy the equity markets as well as the flagging growth that is concerning investors worldwide.”

European markets were showing some resilience to the issues in China, but still wavering.

Oil prices continued to fall on Monday, with Brent down 1.88% to $32.92 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.45% to $32.68.

The dollar was up against the euro, rising 0.25%, as well as up 0.38% the yen, but fell 0.42% against the pound. Spot gold was down 0.09% to $1,103.18.

In company news, fourth-quarter earnings season begins this week, with Alcoa posting results after the close today, however those results aren’t expected to be promising. It also announced a $1.5bn long-term supply contract with General Electric’s aviation unit. Shares were up 1.3% on the news before the bell.

And Tesla shares, already up 1%, will be ones to watch after Elon Musk predicted a customer in Los Angeles will be able to “summon” their electric car via cellphone within two years.