Stock index futures signal dip in early trade

PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.33 percent, Dow Jones down 0.22 percent and Nasdaq 100 down 0.24 percent at 0747 GMT.

Asian and European shares dipped as investors saw further evidence of slowing global growth in weak Japanese data, though the bleak economic outlook kept alive hopes that monetary authorities will embark on more stimulus measures.

Following soft Chinese trade figures last week, Japan on Monday said its economy grew 0.3 percent in April-June from the first quarter, half as much as expected, and slowing from 1.3 percent growth in January-March as Europe's debt crisis weighed on export demand and consumer spending began to lose momentum.

Late on Friday, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve said the Fed should launch a fresh round of bond buying to lower the U.S. unemployment rate more quickly, fuelling speculation that the central bank could soon unveil a new round of quantitative easing.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz is set to join the board of Ingersoll-Rand Plc as he pushes to improve shareholder returns at the diversified manufacturer, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer said on Monday it will acquire Bank of America Merrill Lynch's private bank outside the U.S. for 1.47 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion), bumping up its assets by 40 percent.

Motorola Mobility has told employees it plans to slash 20 percent of its workforce and shut down nearly a third of its offices worldwide, the New York Times reported.

The S&P 500 finished slightly higher on Friday to extend a winning streak to six straight sessions, but activity was light and gains were slight as the market enters a seasonally slow period. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed out their fifth straight week of gains, led once again by expectations for global central bank stimulus.

The S&P 500 <.spx> added 2.97 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,405.77 at the close. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 42.76 points, or 0.32 percent, to 13,207.95 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 2.22 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3,020.86.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-dip-early-trade-075554917--finance.html

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