US stock futures point to lower open

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Monday, with futures on the S&P 500 down 0.30 percent to 1,219.80, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.21 percent to 11,340.00 and Nasdaq100 futures down 0.19 percent to 2,183.00.

The sentiment is likely to be weighed by worse-than-expected unemployment figures released last week, which would compel the Federal government to extend the Bush tax cuts and the Federal Reserve to announce more quantitative easing measures.

In an interview to CBS Corp.'s 60 Minutes program on Sunday, Bernanke did not rule about the possibility of more asset purchases. Bernanke said it was certainly possible that the Fed may expand bond purchases beyond the $600 billion stimulus plan, if the US recovery remained sluggish.

On Friday, a late-session rally pushed stocks modestly into the black after a very disappointing November jobs report battered equities earlier in the day.

The Labor Department said the economy added only 39,000 jobs in November versus expectations of 150,000 newly-created jobs. Also, the unemployment rate moved up to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent.

On the corporate front, Pfizer is expected to be on focus after the world's biggest drug maker said chief executive Jeffrey Kindler has stepped down from the company and he will be replaced by Ian Read, currently head of its global biopharmaceutical operations.

The euro weakened 0.97 percent to 1.3283 against the dollar while the greenback strengthened 0.25 percent against the yen to 82.7420.

Crude oil futures rose 0.10 percent to $91.51/barrel and gold futures strengthened 0.66 percent.

European stock markets remained range bound, with U.K. FTSE 100 up by 6.73 points, German DAX30 up by 11.55 points and French CAC 40 down by 3.75 points.