* Activity at China's factories shrank for the 14th straight month
in April as demand stagnated, a private survey showed, adding to
questions over whether the world's second-largest economy is
recovering.
* Australia's central bank also surprised markets by cutting
interest rates to a record low of 1.75 percent. The majority of
economists surveyed by Reuters had expected no change.
* The dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of the dollar's value against a
basket of major currencies, fell to as low as 91.91. It was last
there in January 2015.
* U.S. stocks rose on Monday, rebounding from losses last week, as
financials gained with Berkshire Hathaway <BRKa.N> and the Nasdaq
snapped a seven-session losing streak.
* Recovering oil prices and an accommodative Federal Reserve have
helped the S&P 500 rise roughly 14 percent since mid-February.
* After raising interest rates in December for the first time in
nearly a decade, the Fed held monetary policy steady last week.
While the Fed kept the door open to a hike in June, it gave no
signal that it was in a hurry to tighten further, even as the labor
market improved.
* Oil prices fell as rising output from the Middle East and North
Sea renewed concerns about a global supply overhang. [O/R]
* Shares of drugmaker Pfizer were up 2.9 percent at $33.76 in
premarket trading after the company reported a rise in quarterly
revenue.
[to top of second column] |
* Drugmaker Mylan was up 5.2 percent at $44.94, after posting
a 17 percent rise in quarterly revenue, helped by higher generic
drug sales.
* Cosmetics maker Estee Lauder rose 1.9 percent to $98.99 as demand
for M.A.C. and Smashbox makeup brands helped its quarterly revenue.
Futures snapshot at 7:14 a.m. ET (1114 GMT):
* S&P 500 e-minis were down 14.25 points, or 0.69 percent, with
180,180 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 31.75 points, or 0.73 percent, on
volume of 21,796 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were down 119 points, or 0.67 percent, with 25,615
contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|