Investors remain cautious on Wall Street ahead of monthly job data and the release of possible earnings warnings this week. The US stock index slumped as a result, indicating an early retreat for investors.
Canter Fitzgerald strategist Marc Pado commented that "This week should struggle with a short-term overbought condition, a general lack of major economic news, and another all-important Friday release on jobs, and lull before the earnings storm that might see some earnings warnings."
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a tumble of nearly 20 points to touch 10748. The Nasqaq also fell, loosing 5.25 points to reach 1989.25, S&P was not immune either, with a fall of 2.7 points leaving it at 1139.6.
Mixed economic reports regarding US
manufacturing and a slowdown in economic recovery have kept investors cautious,
however many are anticipating the reaction from this week’s release of numbers
for pending-home sales, factory orders and nonfarm monthly payroll report due
Friday will be a deal breaker for the upcoming month’s performance.
Attention grabbers in the less-than-enthusiastic trading day were Deal news, which gained 35 percent in preopen trade and Sanofi-Aventis SA, who declared their bid for a hostile takeover of US biotech company Genyzme Corp.
The US dollar gained on the euro, as Switzerland declared tougher regulations for its banking sector, requiring stricter regulations on capital, in line with recent IMF reports calling for broader regulations on financial systems. The price of gold lost $0.30 an ounce, to touch $1.317.5 an ounce.
