WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing
to a roughly flat open on Monday, with stocks likely to continue to show a lack
of direction after ending last Friday's trading little changed.

Traders may stick to the sidelines as they take a moment to assess the recent
activity in the markets and the near-term outlook.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 set new record highs last week and posted strong
weekly gains, while the narrower Dow moved lower for the third time in the last
four weeks.

Investors may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release
of some key economic data in the coming days.

Reports on retail sales and industrial production are likely to be in the
spotlight, while reports on homebuilder confidence, housing starts and existing
home sales may also attract attention.

The upcoming Juneteenth holiday may also lead to lighter than usual trading
activity, as the markets will be closed on Wednesday.

Stocks saw modest weakness throughout much of the trading session on Friday but
recovered to end the day roughly flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced back and
forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the session at a record
closing high.

While the Nasdaq crept up 21.32 points or 0.1 percent to 17,688.88, the S&P 500
edged down 2.14 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,431.60 and the Dow
dipped 57.94 points or 0.2 percent to 38,589.16.

For the week, the Nasdaq surged by 3.2 percent and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.6
percent, but the Dow bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.5 percent.

Traders looked to cash in on recent strength in the markets early in the
session, but selling pressure remained subdued amid the release of tamer than
expected inflation data.

While Federal Reserve officials forecast just one rate cut this year following
this week's monetary policy meeting, traders are hopeful the predictions will
turn out to be overly conservative if inflation continues to slow in the coming
months.

'A lot can happen in a week. Markets became nervous after last Friday's strong
payroll report but after several good inflation releases this week, yields fell
and equities rose,' said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial.

'As we learned from the press conference, Chairman Powell is ready to respond as
the data allow,' he added. 'At this point, inflation pressures are stuck with
some sticky components, but other indicators suggest that inflation is easing
and investors should expect the Fed to begin cutting rates later this year.'

The Labor Department released a report showing unexpected decreases by U.S.
import and export prices in the month of May.

The Labor Department said import prices fell by 0.4 percent in May following a
0.9 percent advance in April. Economists had expected import prices to inch up
by 0.1 percent.

Prices for fuel imports led the way lower, tumbling by 2.0 percent, although
prices for non-fuel imports also dipped by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices slid by 0.6 percent in May after
climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in April.

Economists had expected export prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.5
percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the University of Michigan showed a continued
deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of June.

The report said the consumer sentiment index fell to 65.6 in June after tumbling
to 69.1 in May. Economists had expected the index to rebound to 72.0.

With the unexpected decrease, the consumer sentiment index dropped to its lowest
level since hitting 61.3 in November 2023.

On the inflation front, the report said year-ahead inflation expectations were
unchanged at 3.3 percent in June, above the 2.3-3.0 percent range seen in the
two years prior to the pandemic.

Long-run inflation expectations, on the other hand, inched up to 3.1 percent in
June from 3.0 percent in May, reaching the highest level since hitting 3.2
percent in November 2023.

Oil service stocks saw substantial weakness amid a modest decrease by the price
of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunging by 2.0 percent to
its lowest closing level in four months.

Considerable weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the
2.0 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. With the decrease, the index
fell to a six-month closing low.

Steel, computer hardware and networking stocks also saw notable weakness, while
software and gold stocks moved to the upside on the day.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.50 to $78.95 a barrel after slipping $0.17 to
$78.45 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after surging $31.10 to $2,349.10 an
ounce in the previous session, gold futures are sliding $16.50 to $2,332.60 an
ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.87 yen versus the
157.40 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the
euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0708 compared to last Friday's $1.0703.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday as worries grew over Europe's
political stability and China reported mixed economic data.

The dollar held firm, keeping oil and gold prices under pressure in Asian
trading.

Central banks in Australia, Norway and the U.K. are all expected to hold rates
steady at this week's meetings, while another 25 basis point rate cut is
expected from the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

Chinese stocks fell as a slew of economic data underlined the country's bumpy
recovery and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) left a key policy rate unchanged,
disappointing some who had expected a rate cut following surprisingly soft bank
lending data.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.6 percent to 3,015.89, while
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished marginally lower at 17,936.12 after a
choppy session.

China's May retail sales topped forecasts, but industrial output, home sales and
fixed-asset investment all underwhelmed, suggesting Beijing would need to do
more to prop up feeble domestic demand.

China's state media reported that the country is facing internal and external
constraints to lower rates.

Japanese markets led regional losses as the Bank of Japan's delay in
normalization of policy raised concerns about the economic outlook.

There was also some disappointment on the data front after core machinery orders
fell in April for the first time in three months.

The Nikkei 225 Index slumped 1.8 percent to 38,102.44, while the broader Topix
Index settled 1.7 percent lower at 2,700.01.

Toyota Motor shed 2.7 percent amid continued fallout from a testing scandal,
while Honda Motor, Nissan, Suzuki and Mazda lost 3-4 percent. Chip-related
shares also underperformed, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest falling 3-4
percent.

Seoul stocks ended lower on concerns over a possible delay in long-awaited
interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Kospi slid 0.5 percent to
2,744.10. Hyundai Motor surged 3.9 percent after its India unit filed for an
initial public offering.

Australian stocks ended modestly lower, dragged down by mining and energy
stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.3 percent to 7,700.30, while
the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 0.4 percent lower at 7,943.60.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index tumbled 1.4 percent
to 11,698.51 after data revealed New Zealand's services sector recorded its
weakest level of activity in almost three years in May.

Europe

European stocks are flat to slightly higher on Monday after falling sharply last
week on concerns that a new government in France may worsen the country's fiscal
situation and threaten the stability of the euro zone.

French government bonds won some respite after Marine Le Pen, the leader of the
French far right, said she would co-operate with President Emmanuel Macron if
she wins the snap parliamentary election that begins later this month.

In addition, European Central Bank policymakers reportedly said they had no
plans to launch emergency purchases of French bonds to stabilize the market.

While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is nearly unchanged, the German DAX Index is up
by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In corporate news, Dutch insurer ING has moved notably higher after it forecast
total income growth of between 4 percent and 5 percent per year during
2024-2027.

Denmark's Topdanmark has soared as Finnish insurer Sampo agreed to buy its rival
for 33 billion Danish crowns ($4.73 billion) in an all-share deal.

Ascential shares have also jumped in London. The company focused on exhibitions,
festivals, and information services, confirmed that full-year trading is in line
with its expectations.

Meanwhile, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG has plunged. The German firm announced a
reduction in its revenues forecast for the fiscal 2023-24 and a 3 percent
decline in adjusted revenue for the first eight months of the fiscal 2023-2024
compared to the prior year.

China-linked Hermes, LVMH and Kering are also moving lower in Paris after a slew
of Chinese economic data underlined the country's bumpy recovery and the
People's Bank of China left a key policy rate unchanged, disappointing some who
had expected a rate cut following surprisingly soft bank lending data.

In economic news, survey data from property market website Rightmove showed
asking prices for British homes coming to the market were flat this month.

Separately, the Make UK Q2 Manufacturing Outlook Survey revealed that output and
orders at U.K. manufacturers have picked up in the second quarter ahead of the
forthcoming election.

U.S. Economic Reports

New York manufacturing activity contracted at a notably slower rate in the month
of June, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
on Monday.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index climbed to a
negative 6.0 in June from a negative 15.6 in May, although a negative reading
still indicates contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to a
negative 9.0.

Despite the continued contraction in current activity, the New York Fed said
optimism about the six-month outlook picked up to its highest level in more than
two years.

At 1 pm ET, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker is scheduled
to speak on the economic outlook before the Global Interdependence Center 42nd
Annual Monetary and Trade Conference.

Stocks In Focus

Shares of Autodesk (ADSK) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after
a report from the Wall Street Journal said activist investor Starboard Value has
taken a roughly $500 million stake in the software company.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) is also likely to see initial
strength after UBS upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from
Neutral.

On the other hand, shares of Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) may move to the downside
after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the building materials company's
stock to Sell from Neutral.



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