U.S. stock index futures headed for a mixed open on Monday as a sharp drop in Boeing shares was set to drag down the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Dow futures fell 159 points, indicating a decline of 109 points at the open as Boeing declined more than 8 percent. Boeing’s drop follows the weekend crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 jet. That is the second crash involving that plane in less than five months.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose slightly, however, indicating gains of at least 0.2 percent at the open.
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Monday’s moves come after the major indexes posted their worst weekly performances of 2019 amid growing concerns of a possible economic slowdown around the world. Data on Friday showed the world’s largest economy added just 20,000 jobs in February versus an expected gain of 180,000 — marking the weakest month of jobs creation since September 2017.
Meanwhile, data out of China last week showed its exports slumped 20.7 percent from a year earlier, far below analysts’ expectations and wiping out a surprise jump in January.
These figures all came less than 24 hours after the European Central Bank slashed its growth forecasts for the euro zone and announced a new round of policy stimulus.
On Sunday, Fed Chair Powell told “60 Minutes” that he thinks the U.S. economy is still strong, though he acknowledged that weakness around the world could start to hit the U.S.
“I would say there’s no reason why this economy cannot continue to expand,” he said.
Meanwhile, investors will keep an eye on more data out Monday, with retail sales out at 8:30 a.m. ET and business inventories at 10 a.m. ET.
Source: cnbc.com | Original Link