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Monday, August 3, 2015

U.S. stock futures little changed ahead of raft of data

By Tanya Agrawal(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday as investors await another batch of earning reports and a raft of economic data.* Wall Street closed lower on Friday following poor results from Exxon Mobil and Chevron and a decline in oil prices amid oversupply concerns.* Oil prices hit six-month lows earlier in the day, knocked by fresh evidence of growing oversupply and data highlighting slowing demand in China, leaving crude prices on course for their weakest third-quarter performance since the financial crisis in 2008. [O/R]* The Greek stock market slumped when it reopened on Monday after being shut for five weeks.* In the United States, consumer consumption numbers for June are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT). The numbers are expected to rise 0.2 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent rise in May.* Construction spending data for June is expected at 10 a.m. ET and automobile sales for July are scheduled to be released at 1:30 p.m. ET.* Investors have been keeping a sharp eye on economic data for clues regarding the timing of the first rate increase in nearly a decade. The U.S. Federal Reserve has said it will hike interest rates only when it sees a sustained recovery in the economy.* On Friday, wage data showed that U.S. labor costs in the second quarter recorded their smallest increase in 33 years, which bolstered expectations that the Fed might hold off on an interest rate increase until December.* Companies scheduled to report on Monday include American International Group , Allstate and General Growth Properties . All of them report after the close.* With more than half of the S&P 500 companies having reported their second-quarter results, analysts expect overall earnings to edge up 0.9 percent and revenue to decline 3.3 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.* Nice Systems rose 1 percent to $65.15 after the Israeli software provider agreed to sell its video surveillance technologies unit to private equity firm Battery Ventures.Futures snapshot at 7:22 a.m. ET:* S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.5 points, or 0.02 percent, with 115,667 contracts traded.* Nasdaq 100 e-minis remained unchanged, on volume of 17,056 contracts.* Dow e-minis were up 8 points(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)Join the conversation about this story »


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