Investing.com – U.S. futures were lower on Tuesday, as geopolitical concerns in Europe worried investors and traders returned from a three-day weekend.
The S&P 500 futures was down 19 points 0.70% to 2,699.25 as of 6:44 AM ET (10:44 GMT) while Dow futures decreased 173 points or 0.70% to 24,557.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 36 points or 0.52% to 6,924.75.
European markets entered their second day of equity sell-offs as the Italian political crisis continued, while in Spain, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces a confidence vote on Friday over corruption verdicts of people linked with his party.
Italy's anti-establishment parties abandoned plans over the weekend to form a coalition government after the country's president, Sergio Mattarella, refused to accept their euroskeptic candidate for economy minister. Carlo Cottarelli, a former International Monetary Fund official, was asked to form a new government, with snap elections expected as early as August.
Meanwhile investors are on edge over potential talks between the U.S. and North Korea. While U.S. President Donald Trump called off a summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, he suggested on Friday that a meeting could still take place.
Chinese social media site Momo Inc (NASDAQ:MOMO) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, surging 8.47% after its earnings came in higher than expected, while Frontline Ltd (NYSE:FRO) rose 5.46%.
Elsewhere Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) dipped 2.69% while Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) (HE:NOKIA) Corp fell 5.05% and Barclays (LON:BARC) PLC ADR (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) was down 3.76%.
On the economic front, the house price index comes out at 9:00 AM ET (13:00 GMT) with consumer confidence at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT) and the Dallas Fed’s manufacturing survey out at 10:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT).
In earnings news, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding (NYSE:BAH), Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) are just some of the firms expected to release their financial results.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX slumped 192 points or 1.94% while in France the CAC 40 decreased 78 points or 1.42% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 103 points or 1.34%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 56 points or 1.63% while Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 240 points or 2.46%.
In commodities, gold futures inched down 0.04% to $1,303.00 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 1.38% to $66.94 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.39%% to 94.73.