US Stock Futures Hint At Subdued Open As Investors Return From Thanksgiving Break; Retail Stocks And Data On Factory and Construction Sectors To Be Watched

This Cyber Monday, investors will come back to the markets to focus on retail stocks, and wary of a week brimming with crucial economic data.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or DJIA, were up 0.08 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.09 percent, and those on the Nasdaq Composite Index were up 0.12 percent.

On Sunday, Robert Shiller, one of three American economists who won the 2013 Nobel Prize, warned that the recent sharp rise in equity prices in the U.S. is a dangerous development, and it could signal the building of a financial bubble.

Indeed, stocks ended November having climbed about 3 percent to 4 percent, according to CNNMoney. And, in the year to date, the DJIA has grown by 22.76 percent; the S&P 500 has shot up by 26.62 percent; and, the Nasdaq Composite Index has appreciated by 34.45 percent.

"I am most worried about the boom in the U.S. stock market. Also because our economy is still weak and vulnerable," Reuters quoted Shiller as saying to Der Spiegel, a German magazine.

On the data front, Monday brings the ISM manufacturing composite index for November at 10 a.m. EST. Data on construction spending for October is also scheduled to be released at the same time. Preceding these two data points is the Purchasing Managers' Manufacturing Index, or PMIs, for November, due to be released at 8:58 a.m. EST.

Later in the week, Tuesday brings data on sales of motor vehicles, Wednesday has data on new home sales and the trade balance, while jobless claims and GDP data are due on Thursday. And, data on unemployment for November is expected to be released on Friday.

In Europe, stocks were down with the Stoxx Europe 600 index trading down 0.23 percent and the FTSE 100 down 0.64 percent. Germany’s DAX-30 was down 0.14 percent while France's CAC-40 was down 0.42 percent.

In Asia too, markets were mostly weak with Japan’s Nikkei ending down 0.04 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.76 percent. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.59 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.66 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite index was down 0.69 percent while India’s BSE Sensex ended the day up 0.51 percent.