Wall Street set to open little changed ahead of data

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday as investors appeared to have shrugged off the weekend attacks in London, while awaiting a string of economic data.

The third militant attack in Britain in less than three months comes days before the country's general national election on Thursday.

Opinion polls in the past week have put Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives ahead, though with a narrowing lead over the Labour opposition.

"We are looking for a mixed to lower session as international and domestic political worries keep investors on the side lines," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York, wrote in a note.

 

U.S. stocks closed at record levels for a second consecutive session on Friday as gains in technology and industrial stocks more than offset a lukewarm jobs report.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 138,000 in May, well short of the 185,000 expected by economists.

The modest increase, however, could raise concerns about the economy's health after gross domestic product growth slowed in the first quarter.

Despite the disappointing data, market participants still largely anticipate the Federal Reserve to raise rates at its June 13-14 meeting, with traders expecting a 90.7-percent chance of a quarter-point hike, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Commerce Department will report factory orders for April, which likely dipped 0.2 percent, while the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI data for May could drop marginally to 57.0 from 57.5 in April. The reports are expected at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).

"On the macro front, the PMI and factory orders are likely to show positive readings with the employment trend index moving to 133.5 as the solid labor market trend continues," said Cardillo.

Dow e-minis were down 22 points, or 0.1 percent, with 12,887 contracts changing hands at 8:24 a.m. ET.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.5 points, or 0.1 percent, with 79,896 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 7.25 points, or 0.12 percent, on volume of 18,014 contracts.

Oil prices reversed gains to trade down on concerns that the cutting of ties with Qatar by top crude exporter Saudi Arabia and other Arab states could hamper a global deal to reduce oil production. [O/R]

Shares of Apple were down 0.83 percent at $154.16 in premarket trading after a brokerage cut its rating on the stock. There is also a possibility the company will take the unusual step of introducing a new product at its five-day annual developer conference, which begins on Monday.

Herbalife was down 4.6 percent at $70.50 after the nutritional supplement maker lowered its sales outlook for the current quarter.

TG Therapeutics jumped 14.1 percent to $15.80 after the drugmaker's data from the trial of its experimental cancer drug yielded positive results.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)