NEW YORK
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday
as investors looked ahead to the latest economic data and corporate
earnings to give direction to a market near record levels.
While merger and acquisition activity gave investors a reason to
buy, there have been a number of high-profile earning
disappointments this quarter, including from Amazon.com and
Caterpillar. Those results have pointed to weak conditions for
market-moving bellwethers, even as more companies than usual have
beaten analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue this
quarter.
The S&P 500 ended at a record Thursday but fell on Friday, pressured
by Amazon's and Visa Inc's weak results. The benchmark index is less
than 1 percent from an all-time intraday record, and on Friday,
found support at its 14-day moving average, suggesting a recent
positive trend in equities remains intact.
Dollar Tree Inc offered to buy Family Dollar Stores Inc for about
$9.2 billion, or $74.50 per share in cash and stock. Shares of
Family Dollar jumped 22 percent to $74 in light premarket trading
while Dollar Tree was up 3.7 percent to $56.24.
S&P 500 e-mini futures fell 1.25 point and were below fair value, a
formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest
rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones
industrial average e-mini futures fell 8 points and Nasdaq 100
e-mini futures lost 0.25 point.
Investors were looking ahead to pending home sales, due at 10:00
a.m. Sales are seen rising 0.5 percent in June, compared with a rise
of 6.1 percent in May. Last week, June new home sales fell 8.1
percent, the biggest drop in almost a year.
Financial data firm Markit will release its July read on the U.S.
services sector at 9:45 a.m. That is seen falling to 59.8 from 61 in
June. Later this week will see the release of data on second-quarter
gross domestic product, as well as the July payroll report.
Cisco Systems Inc shares dipped 0.8 percent to $25.75 before the
bell. On Sunday, Pacific Crest downgraded the stock to "sector
perform" from "outperform."
El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc, a restaurant chain which went public on
Friday, continued the strength of its trading debut to rise 9.4
percent to $26.29 in premarket trading. The stock was the Nasdaq's
most active premarket mover.
