US pre-open: Stocks set for lower start, politics and Apple in focus

Stocks were being called to start Monday's session a tad lower following the French President's decision to call snap parliamentary elections at the end of June.

What many commentators described as a risky gamble by Emmanuel Macron underlined the increasingly fractious politics on either side of the Atlantic - not just in France - and the scope for surprises.

As of 1349 BST, futures on the Dow Jones Industrials were down by 31 points to 38,826.0, those on the S&P 500 by 2.75 points to 5,353.0 and those tracking the Nasdaq-100 by 13.0 points to 19,024.75.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were up by 0.81% to $76.34 on the ICE, alongside a three basis point move higher on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 4.468%.

No major economic reports were due out, although market participants were expectant ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement scheduled for two days later.

There was special interest in just how far, or not, policymakers would walk back their previous expectations for three interest rate cuts for over the remainder of 2024.

Yet at 1530 BST the Treasury would auction three and six-month bills, followed by three-year notes at 1700 BST.

On the corporate side of things, investors would be watching the start of Apple's worldwide developers' conference later in the day.

Apple boss Tim Cook's keynote speech on Monday was likely to include announcements related to artificial intelligence.