U.S. stock futures are pointing lower this morning after the G20 said European leaders need to do more to fix the continent's sovereign debt issues.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq are each down about 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent, following slightly bigger losses across the Atlantic. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 are leading Europe lower with declines averaging 1.1 percent. Asian indexes were also mostly negative overnight.
At a Group of 20 meeting yesterday, finance ministers of the world's leading economies decided that Brussels needs better institutional firewalls before the International Monetary Fund receives more money to help Europe. There have also been conflicting statements by German officials, with its interior minister saying Greece should leave the Eurozone.
Today's weakness follows a big run in the last two months, during which the major indexes have melted higher and are now stalled near long-term highs.
Foreign-exchange and commodities markets also reflect a desire by investors to take profits. Currencies associated with risk, including the euro, Canadian dollar, and Australian dollar, are lower against the U.S. dollar. Also, in a somewhat rare occurrence recently, the Japanese yen is higher against the greenback and the euro.
Most commodities are also lower, led by oil, which is down more than 1 percent. Silver and copper are down more than half a percent, while gold is declining by a slightly smaller margin. Agricultural foodstuffs are mixed but mostly lower.
In company-specific news, home-improvement retailer climbed about 1 percent after earnings and same-store sales came in better than expected thanks to warm weather. U.K. megabank HSBC fell by about 4 percent, following the broader European market lower, after reporting better earnings in emerging markets such as Latin America and leaving guidance unchanged.
Other companies to report this week include Career Education after the bell today, and then Tenet Healthcare, AutoZone, and Domino's Pizza tomorrow. Joy Global and McDermott International follow on Wednesday, with Kroger on Thursday and Big Lots on Friday.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
