Stock Futures In Red On Europe Fallout; Oil Retreats

By ALAN R. ELLIOTT, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 09:06 AM ET

Stock futures maintained their early losses ahead of Monday's open, as the dollar climbed vs. the euro and oil-related stocks came under pressure.
Dow futures traded 90 points lower. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 20 points and S&P 500 futures slipped 11.2 points.
BMC Software (BMC) climbed 4% in premarket trade. The company announced that two hedge funds under Elliott Management Corp. had acquired a more than 5% stake and intended to press for the sale of the company. BMC management said the proposal was not in the company's best interest, and put in place stockholder rights measures to battle an unsolicited takeover.
Investors watched for a pending first-quarter report from Groupon (GRPN) as well as the ongoing fallout from JPMorgan's (JPM) $2 billion trading loss.
But a thinning first-quarter earnings calendar and a light schedule of economic reports left the spotlight on Europe's markets, which were down hard heading into afternoon trading. Greek lawmakers remained stalemated in attempts to form a coalition government after a May 6 vote. The standoff increases the possibility of another national vote, a default on euro zone bailouts funds and the country's exit from the euro. A national vote in Germany Sunday significantly weakened Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative government, strengthening that country's anti-austerity momentum. All the major European indexes were down more than 2%, led the CAC-40 in Paris, which dropped 2.2%.
Asia's markets ended mixed. China's central bank eased its reserve requirements for banks Saturday, a day after data showed weaker-than-expected industrial production for April. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dumped 1.2%.
News reports of comments made Sunday by Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi pressured oil prices 2% lower, to near $94 a barrel.
Al-Naimi said global oil supply was running between 1.3 million and 1.5 million barrels per day above demand, and that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries wanted to see the price of Brent crude near $100, vs. current levels around $109. Natural gas held steady at $2.50 per million British thermal units. Gold was down 1%, but traded widely early Monday between $1,558 and $1,585 an ounce.