19th May 2014 12:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - US stocks are set to open modestly lower Monday, as investors digest some weak housing data from China, but with no US macro economic data due to be released and a quiet day expected in the corporate calendar, trading may remain within tight ranges.
In data released over the weekend, the Chinese house price index indicated house price inflation of 6.7% in April, according to FXStreet.com, down from 7.7% growth in March and the fourth consecutive month of declines.
The data saw Asian equities close in the red. The Nikkei in Tokyo closed down 0.6%, the Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.1%, and the Hang Seng closed marginally lower.
This negativity is set to roll into the US session. Ahead of the New York bell, the DJIA, S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite are all called to open down 0.2%.
"There is no US economic data scheduled to be released today and earnings season has pretty much drawn to a close now leaving little for traders to focus their attention on," says Craig Erlam, a market analyst at Alpari.
In a quiet day of corporate reporting, Urban Outfitters Inc is due to release first-quarter results. The clothing retailer is expected to post earnings of USD27 cents a share on a revenue of USD680.6 million, says Jasper Lawler, a market analyst at CMC Markets.
The group's shares are a touch lower in pre-market trading.
Elsewhere, Pfizer Inc and AT&T Inc are both big movers in pre-market trading Monday.
Pfizer's shares are up 2.2% after UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca rejected its final GBP69 billion takeover proposal, potentially ending the US company's interest in its British rival for the time being after Pfizer pledged not to go direct to AstraZeneca's shareholders with a hostile offer.
Pfizer raised its approach to GBP55.00 a share, from GBP50.00 previously, and also sweetened the proposed cash and shares deal with a higher cash component, but AstraZeneca said it still felt that undervalued the company.
The news has sent Pfizer's shares higher but has knock AstraZeneca's down 10% the UK.
At the other end of the spectrum, AT&T is down 2.6% in pre-market dealings. The telecommunications company said on Sunday it has agreed a deal to takeover satellite dish service DirecTV for USD48.5 billion. AT&T will acquire DirecTV's 38 million subscribers.
In the UK, stocks trade mixed. The FTSE 100 is down 0.3% at 6,833.84, the FTSE 250 is up 0.3% at 15,438.73, and the AIM All-Share index is down 0.4% at 793.3.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt are up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
By James Kemp; [email protected]; @jamespkemp
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