By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

IMF cuts U.S. growth view; Google parent Alphabet, Halliburton to report

Wall Street stocks looked set for a slightly lower open on Monday, with future easing as investors braced for an important and busy week for earnings, and global markets pulled lower.

This week's packed earnings reports schedule starts with Halliburton Co. and Alphabet Inc. on Monday, while a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also in the spotlight.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 15 points, or less than 0.1%, at 21,503, while S&P 500 futures edged down 2.40 points, or 0.1%, to 2,467. Nasdaq-100 futures eased 6.75 points, or 0.1%, at 5,912.25.

Stocks finished lower on Friday. For the week, the Dow dipped 0.3%, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index posted gains of 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

Setting the tone, stocks fell in Asia and Europe, which could be weighing on U.S. action some, said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, in a note. A sharp deterioration in the German DAX (DAX), off 0.5% and the FTSE 100 , down 0.9%, may be hard for traders to ignore, he said.

"The past 11-days have seen the Dow trade within a 220-point range, which coincides with the beginning of U.S. earnings season. This recent consolidation appears to be a recognition that we will see the focus shift away from the central banks and towards sector specific considerations in the U.S.," he said.

While the earnings season is far from finished, politics could move into the forefront for investors on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump will make a statement on health care (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-to-make-statement-on-healthcare-monday-reports-2017-07-24) at 3:15 p.m. Eastern, according to media reports. Republicans were forced to shelve a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare simultaneously last week due to lack of support. Trump warned GOP lawmakers in a post to Twitter late Sunday that they needed to support his efforts on the health care front:

(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889274373689028609)

But Trump's inability to get his party's health-care plans pushed through so far have cast doubt on his larger plans over tax reforms, which investors are counting on to support economic growth and keep stocks moving higher.

Also not helping appetite for riskier assets such as stocks, the International Monetary Fund (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-cuts-us-growth-forecast-for-2017-2018-2017-07-24)lowered its U.S. economic growth forecasts for 2017 and 2018, blaming less-expansionary-than-expected fiscal policy.

Read:As GDP will show, U.S. economy is sticking to the same track (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-gdp-will-show-us-economy-on-same-track-2017-07-23)

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet this week, though most aren't expecting a policy move from Federal Reserve members.

In a fairly busy week for data, the Markit manufacturing and services flash Purchasing Managers Indexes for July will be released at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, and existing-home sales for June is due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

OPEC in the spotlight: Oil prices bounced around, but last traded around 1% higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-steady-with-all-eyes-on-opec-meeting-2017-07-24) as investors watched comments coming from an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting. Many are hoping the cartel will make a decision to include Nigeria and Libya in its production-cap deal.

The influential Saudi Arabia oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said that deeper production cuts weren't among the items discussed at the meeting, according to reports on Twitter. He also said that compliance with quotas agreed in the OPEC-led output cap deal was strong, but that some countries continued to lag, reports said.

Stocks to watch: Shares of WebMD Health Corp.(WBMD) shot up 17% before being halted on news that KKR & Co. will by the health care information provider in a deal valued at $2.8 billion, or $66.50 a share in cash, a 20.5% premium to Friday's closing price of $55.19.

On the earnings docket, shares of Halliburton (HAL) rallied more than 3% after the oil-services company beat profit and sales forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/halliburtons-stock-rallies-after-profit-revenue-beat-expectations-2017-07-24).

Hasbro Inc.(HAS) slipped after the toy maker posted revenue that fell short of forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hasbro-earnings-beat-forecasts-revenue-falls-short-2017-07-24). VFC Corp.(VFC) shot up 2.3% after lifting full-year guidance.

After the close, Google Inc. parent Alphabet (GOOGL) is due to report.

Read:Alphabet earnings: A $2.74 billion hit for Google, potential YouTube results for investors (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-a-274-billion-hit-for-google-potential-youtube-results-for-investors-2017-07-21)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-a-274-billion-hit-for-google-potential-youtube-results-for-investors-2017-07-21)Shares of Blue Apron Holdings Inc. rallied 8% in premarket after RBC Capital initiated the company at outperform. Other banks and research houses were also initiating coverage on the ingredient-and-recipe meal kit service Monday. Blue Apron has been the worst-performing IPO of 2017 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/blue-apron-is-the-worst-performing-large-ipo-of-2017-2017-07-18).

Read: At least 9 dead after overheated tractor-trailer found outside Texas Wal-Mart (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trafficking-suspected-after-8-people-found-dead-30-injured-in-walmart-parking-lot-2017-07-23)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trafficking-suspected-after-8-people-found-dead-30-injured-in-walmart-parking-lot-2017-07-23)Other markets: The dollar attempted to gain a footing on Monday, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index rising to 93.95 from 93.85 late Friday. The dollar has sagged on sluggish U.S. economic data, dropping 1.4% last week.

Dollar weakness dragged stocks in Japan and Australia lower on Monday, as currencies in those countries gained against the greenback. European stocks pulled back (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-pull-back-as-auto-makers-oil-producers-struggle-2017-07-24) as auto makers and oil producers struggled.

Gold prices inched up $2.10 to $1,257 an ounce.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2017 07:47 ET (11:47 GMT)

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