A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Point To Lower Start For Wall Street

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. There were no major US economic releases Monday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 57 points to 17,719.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 6.50 points to 2,080.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 20 points to 4,437.50. Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 0.93 percent to trade at $50.07 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also declined 1.08 percent to trade at $48.54 a barrel.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.43 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.51 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 1.22 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.73 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 1.24 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.51 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 2.52 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.21 percent and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.90 percent.

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded

from Hold to Underperform. SAP shares fell 2.13 percent to $76.77 in pre-market trading.