Stock futures point to a weak open
U.S. stock futures tumbled early Monday, suggesting Wall Street would start the holiday-shortened week in the red.
As of 5:15 a.m. ET, Dow futures were indicated 92 points, or 0.27% to 34,521. S&P 500 futures dropped 24.75 points, or 0.55% to 4,458.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 146.25 points, or 1.02% to 14,180.75.
The first-quarter earnings season kicks off this week, with banking giants like JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) set to report.
Wall Street is also awaiting the release of a key U.S. inflation report. The Labor Department will release March CPI data on Tuesday, which will be Federal Reserve policymakers receive before their next monetary policy meeting.
Twitter shares slide after Elon Musk rejects board seat
Elon Musk, Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR)’S biggest shareholder, has turned down an offer to join the social media company’s board, CEO Parag Agrawal has announced.
“Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board,” Agrawal tweeted late Sunday.
Twitter revealed in a regulatory filing about a week ago that it had appointed the SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) boss to join its board.
Musk, who recently disclosed he had bought a stake of 9.2% in Twitter, was expected to become a board member for a term that expired in 2024.
His appointment would have barred him from owning more than 14.9% of common stock while he remained on the board.
Twitter stock fell 5.26% to $43.80 per share in the premarket trading session.
Crude futures sink amid China lockdowns
Meanwhile, crude futures were under pressure on Monday as traders continue to monitor the Russia-Ukraine war which has roiled energy markets for nearly two months.
Coronavirus restrictions in China are also weighing on crude as the city of Shanghai remains locked down due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.
The city, which has been under lockdown since March 28, reported a record 21,000 cases on Friday.
As of 5:15 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost $2.59, or 2.64% to $95.67 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures were down $2.56, or 2.49% to $100.22 a barrel.
