Wall St set to dip at open after record high

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for a lower open on Monday after the S&P 500 index closed at a record high, but an unexpected rise in retail sales last month was likely to curb any decline.

Stock index futures pared losses after the Commerce Department said retail sales edged up 0.1 percent, coming after a 0.5 percent March decline and defying an average forecast by economists polled by Reuters for a drop of 0.3 percent.

Retail sales account for about 30 percent of consumer spending.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> managed its third straight weekly gain last week, reaching a record high on Friday. The benchmark had a five-day streak of record closing highs before settling lower on Thursday.

 

"Markets and investors are a bit skittish at the levels we are at," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"There is not a great deal of confidence in the consumer and that spending, as a result, is going to necessarily support current pricing. But this number is definitely not a cause for concern."

S&P 500 futures lost 2.1 points 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 futures fell 77 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 2.5 points.

Later in the session at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), data on March business inventories is due. Economists in a Reuters survey expect an increase of 0.3 percent versus a 0.1 percent rise in February.

Elan agreed to a $1 billion deal to buy 21 percent of the royalties that U.S. company Theravance receives from GlaxoSmithKline for its respiratory drugs. Theravance shares jumped 13.8 percent to $39.75 in premarket trading.

AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc agreed to be acquired by a private investor consortium led by CITIC Capital Partners for $12 per share in cash. AsiaInfo shares gained 0.6 percent to $11.75 in premarket trade.

U.S.-listed shares of Perion Network surged 13.1 percent to $14.25 before the opening bell after the Israeli consumer Internet company posted first-quarter earnings.

SoftBank Corp has told banks that their financing of Dish Network Corp's $25.5 billion rival offer for Sprint Nextel Corp could hurt their chances of landing a role in a highly anticipated public offering of the Chinese e-commerce giant, two sources familiar with the situation said.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Barry)