Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Monday, as concerns over the outlook for growth in China weighed on market sentiment, while trading volumes were expected to remain light in the absence of any major U.S. economic releases throughout the session.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.32% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.33% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.37% decline.
Market sentiment was hit after China’s financial regulators tightened rules on bank lending on Friday, sparking fears that limited credit could act as a drag on growth.
Meanwhile, data on Sunday showing that property prices in Beijing fell at the fastest rate in two years in April added to signs of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
The auto sector was expected to be active, after General Motors (NYSE:GM) said on Friday that it had entered into a consent decree with the U.S. government over its ongoing ignition switch recall. The automaker is set to pay a $35 million fine.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) was also slated to remain in the spotlight, after Astrazeneca (LONDON:AZN) rejected a sweetened £69.4 billion ($117 billion) takeover offer from the U.S. drugmaker, considered as too low. The U.K. company said the bid fails to reflect the value of the its pipeline of experimental medicines.
Pfizer shares surged 2.16% in pre-market trade.
In the telecom sector, AT&T (NYSE:T) announced that it plans to buy DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV) for $48.5 billion, gaining more than 38 million video subscribers in the U.S. and in Latin America and stepping up an acquisition-fueled overhaul of the $110 billion U.S. pay-TV industry.
Shares in AT&T held steady, inching up 0.03% in early trading, while DirecTV surged 3.74%.
Elsewhere in M&A news, General Electric (NYSE:GE) was said to be in early-stage talks with nuclear-plant maker Areva (PARIS:AREVA) and other French companies about asset sales or partnerships. GE is currently seeking approval from France’s government for its $17 billion bid on Alstom (PARIS:ALSO).
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN), scheduled to report quarterly earnings later in th day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 tumbled 0.91%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.71%, Germany's DAX retreated 0.83%, while Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.65%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.04%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.64%.