US pre-open: Futures edge lower amid Greece worries

US stock futures took a sharp turn south on Tuesday, as uncertainty surrounding Greece’s bailout negotiations drove a global selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately down 40 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session seven and nine points lower respectively.

Wall Street registered marginal gains on Monday, as investors digested a raft of mixed economic data, placing even more importance on Friday’s jobs report.

“Data once again showed flat spending and lower than expected inflation in April,” said Oanda’s senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

“This again supports the need to delay a rate hike although it does come from a month that [US Fed Chair] Janet Yellen has already referred to as falling within the transitory period which would once again mean consumers have more to spend over the summer.”

European leaders met IMF head Christine Lagarde and ECB President Mario Draghi in a late Monday in Berlin, to prepare a draft agreement to present to Greece, which was described as the “final” offer to Athens.

“The U.S. futures market is incurring small losses in comparison to its European equivalents, but the jitters surrounding Greece span far and wide,” said David Madden, market analyst at IG.

“The uncertainty around whether Athens will have enough cash to make Friday’s repayment is making Wall Street wary.”

Factory orders for April and monthly auto sales for May are the highlight of an otherwise sparsely populated economic calendar on Tuesday. The former will be released at 15:00 BST, while there’s no time scheduled for the latter.

Investors will also hear from Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard, who will speak on the economic outlook and policy at Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington at 15:00 BST.

In company news, Dollar General edged 2.32% higher in pre-market trading as first quarter profit beat expectations, although sales fell short.

Clothing retailer Guess will report after the close and is expected to report a quarterly loss of 5 cents per share compared with a 3 cents share a year ago.

The dollar plunged 1.19% against the euro and lost 0.35% against the pound and 0.12% against the yen, while gold futures

Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 1.38% to $61.04 a barrel, while Brent climbed 0.92% to $65.48 a barrel.