By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Apple, Amazon, Halliburton, Baker Hughes in focus

Stock futures rose moderately as a new month of trading kicks off, with investors expected to seek direction Monday from a key gauge of the manufacturing industry.

While no major earnings reports are due, the breakdown of a deal between Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. could draw some attention.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 17 points to 17,710, while S&P 500 futures inched up 2.15 points to 2,061.25. Nasdaq-100 futures added 1.75 points to 4,333.25.

The Dow industrials and S&P 500 closed out April (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-to-eke-out-gains-in-the-cruellest-month-for-tech-amazon-soars-2016-04-29) with gains of 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, but the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.9% due to weaker-than-expected earnings from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Intel Corp. (INTC). All indexes finished with a weekly loss.

Read:Wall Street isn't rewarding low-expectation earnings beats (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-not-rewarding-low-expectation-earnings-beats-2016-04-30)

Oil prices were under pressure on Monday, as investors continued to cash out of a fast run up in prices in April. June WTI crude slipped 39 cents, or 0.9%, to $45.53 a barrel, while the dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japanese-yen-soars-to-fresh-18-month-high-against-the-dollar-2016-05-02) tapped a fresh 18-month low against the yen overnight.

Gains for the yen crushed the Nikkei 225 index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japanese-stocks-tumble-as-yen-surges-2016-05-02), which closed down 3.1%. Most Asian markets were shut for holidays. European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/banks-under-pressure-in-europe-amid-holiday-thinned-session-2016-05-02) moved moderately higher in the absence of London markets, also shut for a holiday.

Gold prices pushed past $1,300 an ounce after closing new highs for the year on Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-heads-for-15-month-high-as-dollar-gets-crushed-2016-04-29). Prices rose $10.30, or 0.9%.

Data ahead: The Institute for Supply Management will release April data at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Construction spending for March is due at the same time.

Stocks to watch:Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes(BHI) called off their merger (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/halliburton-baker-hughes-to-scrap-35-billion-merger-2016-05-01), which has been troubled since early April. The deal was once valued at nearly $35 billion.

Amazon.com(AMZN) could grab some attention after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting on Saturday that the company's accomplishments in a short time have been remarkable.

Read the live-blog recap of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2016/04/30/live-blog-warren-buffett-at-berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting/)

Berkshire Hathaway(BRKA) (BRKA) posted a rise in earnings on Saturday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/berkshire-hathaway-earning-rise-despite-stumbles-in-insurance-railroads-2016-04-30) despite profit falls for railroads, utility and energy segments.

Apple Inc.(AAPL) could garner some attention after industry tracker IDC said world-wide shipments of tablets fell another 15% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/isad-nobody-wants-to-buy-tablets-anymore-2016-04-29) during the first quarter of the year as "overall disinterest" for the product hit record highs.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2016 05:59 ET (09:59 GMT)