US pre-open: Stocks seen touch lower as investors mull Macron win

Stocks on Wall Street looked set for a marginally weaker open on Monday, taking their cue from Europe, where stocks retreated as centrist Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election.

Pro-European Macron defeated far-right rival Marine Le Pen with 66.1% of the vote to 33.9%.

At 1120 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.2%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were off 0.1%.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "US futures are pointing at a slightly negative start on the week, with the S&P and Dow both struggling to build on Friday’s gains as they trade at the highs of the range they’ve been contained within since March. The S&P failed to break above 2,400 at the third time of asking on Friday and a break below 2,380 now could signal some weakness to follow for the index. The next couple of days is looking quiet from an economic event perspective, leaving traders to focus on Friday’s jobs data and the French election result, while eyeing retail sales and inflation data later in the week."

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index was 0.2% weaker, while France's CAC 40 was off 0.9%, with traders likely locking in gains after the benchmark index rallied on Friday amid expectations that Macron would win.

Erlam said: "What we’re seeing this morning is a classic case of the rumour – or the expected result in this case - being bought and the fact being sold. The gains over the last couple of weeks since Macron’s first round victory have been substantial and it would appear the trade has exhausted itself."

In corporate news, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media were likely to be active following a report that Sinclair is nearing a deal to buy Tribune for nearly $4bn.

Elsewhere, US-listed shares of Dulux owner AkzoNobel could be in focus after it rejected a third unsolicited takeover offer from US rival PPG Industries saying it undervalued the company.

Mallinckrodt was also likely to be in the spotlight as it released its first-quarter numbers ahead of the opening bell.

There are no major data releases due, but Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is set to give a speech on the outlook for the economy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs later in the session.