US pre-open: Stocks seen touch lower ahead of busy earnings week

US futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday as investors mulled over a downgrade of the International Monetary Fund's growth forecasts for the US, ahead of a busy week for earnings.

At 1100 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were 0.1% weaker, while S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%,

Meanwhile, oil prices were just a touch higher ahead of a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC members later on Monday in St Petersburg to discuss the current production cut. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 0.2% to $45.85 a barrel and $48.17, respectively.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "Earnings season is likely to be the main focus this week, with 189 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report, as well as plenty more from across the pond. With indices in the US trading at record highs and central banks favouring a less accommodative stance, earnings will become increasingly important in maintaining or expanding on these levels, particularly in the continued absence of the growth policies that won Donald Trump the US election last November."

The IMF cut its economic growth forecast for the US this year to 2.1% from 2.3% and its estimate for 2018 to 2.1% from 2.5% previously. "The major factor behind the growth revision, especially for 2018, is the assumption that fiscal policy will be less expansionary than previously assumed, given the uncertainty about the timing and nature of US fiscal policy changes," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook on Sunday.

Politics were also in focus at the start of the week, with President Donald Trump due to make a speech on healthcare later in the day, according to press reports. This comes after he was forced to ditch a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare last week as it did not get the support required.

In corporate news, earnings were due before the open from Stanley Black & Decker, Halliburton and Hasbro, while Google parent Alphabet was slated to report after the close.

Madden said Alphabet is expected to report adjusted earnings per share of $10.34 for the second-quarter and sales of around $25.6bn, up 19% year-on-year, and up 3.9% from $20.1bn last quarter, which beat expectations of $19.75bn.

On the data front, Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index is at 1445 BST, while existing home sales re at 1500 BST.