By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Stock futures edged lower on Monday, as investors took in news of a deadly weekend in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and potentially tougher sanctions from Europe against Russia over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) fell 29 points to 17,003, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) fell 3.6 points to 1,968. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (NDU4) dipped 2.25 points to 3,928.

"We are seeing a push toward more defensive sectors [in Europe] and expect that to follow suit when U.S. markets open," said Brenda Kelly, chief market strategist at IG .

There are no economic events for Monday and a scant amount of earnings, leaving investors to face down a weekend of rising global tensions. On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry was caught on an open microphone, ahead of interviews with Sunday talk shows, criticizing Israeli's Gaza operation after the deadliest day of fighting for both sides since the conflict began.

Meanwhile, European threats of tougher sanctions against Russia weighed on European stocks and filtered through to stock futures as well. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press", Kerry said a "buildup of extraordinary circumstantial evidence" is pointing to Russia as the source of the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, killing 298 people.

International anger is growing over the inability of experts to reach the crash site, as bodies languish in railcars without any clear plan as to destination. Kerry described what was happening as "grotesque," referring to reports of "drunken separatist soldiers, unceremoniously piling bodies onto trucks", and removing bodies and evidence from the site.

European stocks stayed under pressure, and Russia's blue-chip MICEX index was down 1.4%. Asian markets closed mixed.

Wall Street stocks finished last week higher, despite volatility. The S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow industrials (DJI) finished the week up 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. The Russell 2000 (RUT) lost 0.7% for the week, and analysts said investors will be watching for more pain there. Gold (GCQ4) moved higher, while oil (CLQ4) was also marginally up. Small caps' slump, Ukraine fears may hold up market

This is also a major week for earnings. Among the heavy hitters, Apple Inc. (AAPL) will report Tuesday, and Boeing Co. (BA) and Facebook Inc. (FB) will report Wednesday.

Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Hasbro Inc. (HAS) will report early Monday, while results from Netflix Inc. (NFLX)(NFLX),Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will come after the close of regular trading. Netflix, Chipotle, TI are Monday's stocks to watch

Joao Monteiro, analyst at Valutrades, said that Monday could mark a period of consolidation for markets after last week's gains. "More international action in an attempt to shift the geopolitical agenda is inevitable, but the real uncertainty hangs over the timing," he said in emailed comments.

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