Stock futures lower on storm, earnings: cash markets closed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday with investors continuing to fret about the weak revenue picture developing for corporate America, and as U.S. cash equity markets will be closed due to a huge hurricane expected to hit the U.S. East Coast the later in the day.

* All U.S. stock markets will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said late on Sunday, reversing an earlier plan that would have kept electronic trading going on Monday.

* Hurricane Sandy, a mammoth storm menacing the East Coast, took aim at the most densely populated U.S. region on Monday, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses and government departments.

* Lighter revenues have been a concern this earnings season. Just 36.9 percent of S&P 500 companies so far have reported revenue that beat forecasts, compared with the 62 percent that typically exceed expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data as of Friday.

* S&P 500 futures fell 8.6 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 75 points and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 19.50 points.

* Stocks slid last week, following a series of weak results, especially from U.S. multinational companies. For the week, the Dow fell 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 0.6 percent.

* The S&P 500 index is off nearly 4 percent since a peak in September and the index has fallen below its 50-day moving average, a closely watched momentum indicator. Some analysts are now looking to the 100-day moving average as the next area of support at 1,396.8. The index closed at 1,411.94 on Friday.

* The U.S. government plans to issue data on personal income and spending for September on Monday even though the government has shut down to brace for Hurricane Sandy. The Federal Reserve, however, will postpone its regularly scheduled data.

* The Commerce Department will post the monthly report on consumer spending on its web site at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), as regularly scheduled.

* European shares fell for the first time in four sessions on Monday, hit by worries over weak company results. The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> fell 0.5 percent to 1,091.36 points and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index <.stoxx50e> fell 0.8 percent to 2,476.04 points.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-lower-storm-earnings-cash-markets-closed-112834767--sector.html

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