By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Monday, at the start of a holiday-shortened week which includes more retail earnings as well the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
At 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 100 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 20 points, or 0.5%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 95 points, or 0.8%.
The main stock indices posted minor gains on Friday, but this came at the end of a down week after several Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank shouldn't stop raising rates until it's clear that inflation has peaked.
With investors on the lookout for any indication that the pace of rate hikes may slow, the release of the minutes of the Fed’s November meeting on Wednesday will be the week’s highlight.
The economic calendar for the coming week also includes the Richmond Fed manufacturing index, initial jobless claims, durable goods orders for October and PMI data for November, although the data slate is basically empty Monday.
There are also a number of retailers set to report earnings this week, including Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR), ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday and then "Black Friday" – traditionally one of the year's strongest shopping days.
Elsewhere, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock soared premarket after the surprise news that Bob Iger has returned as chief executive for two more years effective immediately, less than a year after he retired.
The entertainment giant is attempting to boost investor confidence after a difficult period which has seen the company’s shares fall more than 40% so far this year.
Digital World Acquisition (NASDAQ:DWAC), the Donald Trump-linked special purpose acquisition vehicle, will also be in focus after Elon Musk reinstated the former U.S. President to his Twitter social media service, potentially undermining Trump’s new platform Truth Social.
Oil prices fell to near two-month lows Monday, weighed by demand concerns from China as COVID concerns in the biggest crude importer in the world increased.
New COVID case numbers in China remained close to the highs seen in April, while the country saw its first Covid-related death in almost six months on Saturday and another two were reported on Sunday.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $79.97 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.3% to $87.39.
Both benchmarks closed Friday at their lowest since Sept. 27, with the U.S. contract down 10% and Brent 9% lower, the biggest weekly decline since August.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,742.55/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.8% lower at 1.0244.