US Markets

Wall Street traders to mull weak business survey

U.S. stock index futures followed European and Asian bourses higher on Monday, despite a new survey showing that global business confidence had slumped to a five-year low.

Markit's triennial "Global business outlook survey" showed that fewer companies expected business activity to be higher in one year's time than in other recent surveys.

"Clouds are gathering over the global economic outlook, presenting the darkest picture seen since the global financial crisis," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

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However, China's Shanghai Composite rose nearly 2 percent, boosted by the news that the Chinese central bank had cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in over two years. The one-year benchmark lending rate was trimmed by 40 basis points to 5.6 percent, while one-year benchmark deposit rates were lowered by 25 basis points.

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Meanwhile, bourses in Europe were boosted after a heavily anticipated indicator of business sentiment in Germany came in higher than forecast. The Ifo business climate index read 104.7 in November, rather than the expected 103.0.

No major data are due out of the U.S. on Monday—things will kick off on Tuesday with the second estimate of third-quarter economic growth.

No big-name companies will report earnings on Monday either. The highlights of the week will be Tiffany & Co. (TIF) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) on Tuesday.