Stock futures signal more losses
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, adding to the previous session's strong sell-off, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.6 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.7 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.5 percent at 0755 GMT.
European shares were down 1.4 percent in morning trade, following Friday's sell-off on Wall Street and in Asia, while fears that Greek debt problems could spread to other countries such as Hungary continued to rattle investors. <.EU>
Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> sank nearly 4 percent on Monday --the index's biggest daily drop in 14 months-- as investors, reeling from debt woes in Hungary and the euro's fall to a more than eight-year low against the yen, dumped stocks across the board.
The euro dropped below $1.19 against the dollar as investors grew increasingly concerned about more slides in the currency after a clear break below a support point on charts, sparked by mounting worries over sovereign debt problems in Hungary and the euro zone.
Hungary's Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said on Monday the country will stick to the 3.8 percent of GDP budget deficit target agreed with international lenders for this year and will cut expenditures to achieve it. Matolcsy also told CNBC television that there were blunders in communication last week, but it is blatant that Hungary is not Greece.
The chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, dismissed concerns on Sunday that Hungary might face a Greek-style debt crisis and said the current level of the euro did not worry him.
G20 finance ministers, meeting in South Korea over the weekend, failed to calm market jitters despite declaring themselves ready to safeguard recovery and stressing the importance of putting their public finances in order.
Oil fell as much as 2.8 percent to below $70 on Monday after disappointing U.S. jobs data and warnings about Hungary's economy re-ignited concern about energy demand growth and Europe's debt crisis.
Energy shares will be in the spotlight as BP gained 1.7 percent after saying it expected a second oil containment system, which would allow it to increase the amount of oil being captured from its leaking Gulf of Mexico well, to be available for deployment in mid-June.
U.S. stocks plummeted to their lowest close since February on Friday after May's jobs figure slammed investors already reeling from worry over Hungary's debt problems.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 323.31 points, or 3.15 percent, to 9,931.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> lost 37.95 points, or 3.44 percent, to 1,064.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> tumbled 83.86 points, or 3.64 percent, to 2,219.17.
Biotechs will be in focus after Spain's Grifols agreed to buy Talecris Biotherapeutics , which produces plasma-based protein therapies, for $3.4 billion in a bold move to expand its business in blood products.
India's Reliance Communications and AT&T have talked about a potential transaction in which the U.S. telecoms giant would take a significant minority stake in the Indian firm, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Conference Board releases its employment trend index for May at 1400 GMT, and the Federal Reserve issues April consumer credit at 1900 GMT.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Erica Billingham)
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