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* The Nasdaq <.IXIC> notched its first close
above the milestone 5,000 mark since March 10, 2000, buoyed by a
flurry of merger activity, for only the third close above that
level in the history of the index. The Dow <.DJI> and S&P <.SPX>
closed at their latest records as economic data pointed to a
slowly improving economy.
* Investors will look to monthly auto sales data throughout the
session for signs on the health of the U.S. economy and the
appetite of consumer spending. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles's <FCHA.MI>
CEO said Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> is not the ideal candidate for a
merger, adding he was exploring various M&A options.
* Electronics retailer Best Buy <BBY.N> climbed 4.8 percent to
$40.50 in premarket trade after it reported quarterly results,
announced a special dividend and the resumption of its share
repurchase plan.
* Citigroup <C.N> gained 1 percent to $54 before the opening
bell after it agreed to sell its consumer finance unit OneMain
Financial Holdings Inc to subprime lender Springleaf Holdings
Inc <LEAF.N> for $4.25 billion in cash.
* MannKind Corp <MNKD.O> tumbled 7.5 percent to $6.14 in
premarket after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock to
"sell" from "neutral" and slashed its price target to $3 from $6
per share.
* European stock markets pulled back from earlier gains spurred
by better-than-expected German retail sales data and merger
speculation in the Portuguese banking sector, but remained near
multi-year highs set in the prior session.
* Japan's Nikkei stock average <.N225> erased early gains and
ended 0.1 percent lower to snap a three-day winning streak,
after the yen rebounded from a three-week low against the
greenback touched earlier in the session. China stocks tumbled
as investor excitement over a weekend interest rate cut waned.
Futures snapshot at 7:28 a.m. EST:
* S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 2.75 points, or 0.13 percent,
with 71,440 contracts changing hands.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 3.75 points, or 0.08
percent, in volume of 8,213 contracts.
* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 17 points, or 0.09 percent, with
9,905 contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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