US pre-open: Stocks set for muted open as traders return to their desks

US futures pointed to a pretty muted open on Wall Street as traders returned to their desks after the Labour Day holiday.

At 1115 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up 0.1%.

At the same time, oil prices were mixed, having advanced in the previous session on the prospect of Saudi Arabia and Russia agreeing a supply cut. West Texas Intermediate was up 1.1% at $44.92 a barrel and Brent crude was down 0.6% to $47.34.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: “With the worst of the quiet summer period now behind us and US traders returning from the bank holiday weekend, we can expect to see trading volumes pick up significantly this week, just in time for a number of key central bank events.

“Between BoE Governor Mark Carney’s appearance before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada decision shortly after and the ECB on Thursday, we’re certainly not short of market moving events this week.”

In corporate news, seed giant Monsanto was higher in pre-market trade after German chemical company Bayer sweetened its bid for the group to $127.50 per share from $125 in July.

Elsewhere, General Electric may be in focus after it said it has agreed to buy two European 3-D printing companies for $1.4bn.

Marvell Technology is among the companies slated to report earnings on Tuesday.

On the data calendar, Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index is at 1445 BST while ISM non-manufacturing is at 1500 BST.

“The services sector is hugely important to the US economy and so this data offers important insight into how the main engine of growth is likely to perform in the months ahead. While the number is forecast to remain solid for another month – at 55 – the trend of slowing growth that we’ve seen over the last year is expected to continue," Erlam said.