U.S. equity futures slipped on Monday after price data from China boosted fears regarding the health of the global economy. Chinese shares also fell lower after factory-gate prices declined.
Futures on the Nasdaq 100 declined by 0.3%. Contracts listed on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both remained little changed. In contrast, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose by 0.2%, while the MSCI World Index was largely unchanged.
Investors are becoming increasingly worried that further central bank interest rates could cause world economies to buckle under pressure. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared to rationalize such fears when she admitted that a U.S. recession remains a possibility.
U.S. consumer inflation numbers are due on Wednesday, with producer prices expected to be released the next day.
Nigel Green, chief executive of DeVere Group, warned investors to expect a rocky season of earnings ahead. “In the last quarterly earnings, there was a lot of negative guidance. We’re likely to see this having turned out to be correct amid the brewing of a perfect storm of several major economic headwinds,” Green commented.