LONDON (MarketWatch) - U.S. stock futures traded lower Monday on skepticism about the pledge from world leaders to tax less and spend more to help the world economy out of the funk that has led to stock prices dropping 40% this year.
S&P 500 futures fell 7.2 points to 854.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 8.75 points to 1,146.70. Dow industrial (DIA:
84.22, -4.48, -5.0%) futures fell 74 points.
Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 5%, the S&P 500 lost 6.2% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.9%, with stocks on Friday getting clobbered after weak outlooks from J.C. Penney, Nokia and Sun Microsystems.
Over the weekend, members of the G20 pledged to stimulate domestic demand, keep trying to stabilize the financial system and make sure the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have enough resources to help countries overcome the crisis.
Economists at UBS said not much emerged from the meeting that hasn't already been stated.
"The statement was a bland recitation of past policy initiatives, coupled with comments that were blindingly obvious. The G20 leaders could not even get a photo opportunity with Senator Obama," they noted.
The president-elect did speak with 60 Minutes, telling the news program he would not press for heavy-handed regulation of the financial industry and also continued to push for a rescue of the auto industry.
General Motors also was in discussions with the German government about guarantees for its Opel division. GM also sold its remaining stake in Suzuki for $230 million. GM shares rose 5.7% in pre-market trade.
Meanwhile, Japan became the latest country to fall into recession.
Still to come are industrial production and capacity utilization figures for October, and the release of a November manufacturing report from the New York region, the Empire State Index.
The slump in crude oil futures continued, with the contract falling $1.49 to $55.55 a barrel.
Lowe's traded 4% lower in pre-market trade after reporting a 24% profit drop in the third quarter.
Goldman Sachs will be in the spotlight as the bank's top executives have decided to forgo their bonuses this year.
But ConocoPhillips traded 8% higher. Berkshire Hathaway increased its investment in the oil company, according to regulatory filings late Friday.
The FTSE 100 traded 1.9% lower in London, while the Nikkei 225 ended 0.7% higher in Tokyo.
