US Stock Futures Fall On Concerns Over Chinese Monetary Policy
US stock index futures fell today as concerns over the possible monetary tightening initiatives in China continued to worry investors. Investors and analysts alike expect the monetary policy to slow down the global recovery from the recession. While futures on Standard & Poor's 500 lost 5 points and were trading short of fair value, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 22 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 4 points.
Investors were unperturbed after data from The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire Manufacturing Survey released today morning that manufacturing activity in the New York state fell more than expected in March. The data showed a decline in the business conditions index to 22.86 in March, from 24.91 in February. However, the report said that the reading indicated a steady improvement in conditions for New York manufacturers in March. Meanwhile, concerns over the warning issued by Moody's Investors Service weighed on investors' mood. The rating agency has remarked that risks are rising for the UK, the US, Germany and France.
Stocks that are expected to be in focus today are Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN), which jumped 9% in premarket trading after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it has sufficient clinical data the on diabetes drug manufactured by AMLN, Eli Lilly (NYSE: ELY) and Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS).
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