Wall Street Poised To Open Lower

(RTTNews) - Investor sentiments continue to be stressed by the Middle East conflict on Monday. Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 222.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 12.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 7.50 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Friday mixed. The Dow fell 152.87 points or 0.3 percent to 49,499.27, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points or 0.3 percent to 7,320.12 and the Nasdaq advanced 222.13 points or 0.9 percent to 25,144.44.

On the economic front, the Jobless Claims for the week will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 205K, while it was up 189K in the prior week.

The Productivitiy and Costs for the first quarter will be issued at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the consensus is 1.7 percent, while it was up 1.8 percent.

The Construction Spending for February will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 0.2 percent. The consensus for March consensus is 0.4 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was up 79 bcf.

The Consumer Credit for March will be issued at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is $12 billion, while it was up $9.5 billion in February.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be published at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was up $6.7 trillion.

Asian markets rallied on Monday. The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange gained 319 points or 1.24 percent to finish trading at 26,095.88.

Markets in China and Japan are closed for a holiday.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 8,697.10, down 33 points or 0.37 percent.