By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures were under pressure
on Monday, on unrest in Hong Kong, an even-stronger dollar gains
and expectations for strong jobs data later in the week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) fell 62
points, or 0.5%, to 16,954, while those for the S&P 500 (SPZ4)
eased 7.1 points, or 0.4% to 1,968.80. Futures for the Nasdaq-100
index (NDZ4) dropped 15 points, or 0.4%, to 4,030.75.
Violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong over the weekend and
on Monday forced some banks and businesses to close and hammered
the Hang Seng Index 1.9% lower. Meanwhile, the dollar hit its
highest level in over six years on the view that the U.S. central
bank and its global peers are headed in different directions on
monetary policy.
Wouter Sturkenboom, London-based investment strategist at
Russell Investment, said the related futures pullback is a bit
bigger than he would have expected, and he expects it will likely
reverse throughout the course of the day. U.S. stocks staged a
rally on Friday, but closed the week in the red due to a big rout
on Thursday. Read: Investors likely to focus on jobs data
The two big events this week: "For us, this week is about two
things: ECB [European Central Bank] policy and nonfarm payrolls,"
said Sturkenboom, referring to Thursday's ECB meeting and Friday's
payrolls. He said traders are expecting a robust payrolls growth
number of around 215,000. "Anything that upsets that expectation
will cause volatility, but that volatility could go either way."
Read: Big rebound seen for U.S. jobs growth
As part of a full week for data, personal income and
consumer-spending data for August will be released at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Time on Monday. Pending home sales for August are out at 10
a.m. Eastern.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will appear on CNBC at 8
a.m. Eastern, then give a speech on current economic conditions to
the National Association for Business Economics meeting in Chicago
at 9 a.m. Eastern. Evans will be a voting member of the Fed policy
committee in 2015.
Dollar soars, Hong Kong slumps: Sturkenboom said this will also
be a big week for the dollar (USDJPY), which also reached a
22-month high against the euro (EURUSD). "Both the ECB and NFP
report will directly impact this trend and we wouldn't be surprised
if we get another strong U.S. dollar week," he said.
While Hong Kong stumbled, the rest of Asia finished mixed.
Europe stocks eased back with miners under pressure in London,
partly due to China-growth worries.
Stocks to watch: DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA) was jumping in
premarket after The Hollywood Reporter said Japanese conglomerate
SoftBank is looking to acquire the animation studio.
Athlon Energy Inc (ATHL) was also moving higher on news Encana
Corp. (ECA) will buy it for $5.93 billion in cash.
European Union regulators are expected to publish a report as
soon as Monday showing tax practices granted to Apple Inc. (AAPL)
and Fiat SpA violated EU law, The Wall Street Journal reported,
citing sources.
Late Friday, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) Chief Executive Officer Marissa
Mayer said the company is reviewing a letter from activist investor
Starboard Value, urging it to combine with AOL Inc.(AOL).
Options contracts on shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(BABA)
are expected to come available on Monday.
Cal-Main Foods Inc. (CALM) is due to report results ahead of the
market's open.
Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS) could stay active after Pimco
founder Bill Gross's decision to join the firm. Pacific Investment
Management Co. suffered around $10 billion in withdrawals following
Gross's exit Friday.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires