US pre-open: Futures trade lower ahead of the bell

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Monday as market participants monitored the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the crash of a passenger plane in China.

As of 1225 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.26%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.03% and 0.12% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 274.17 points higher on Friday, while the S&P 500 extended its recent rally for a fourth consecutive day.

In focus ahead of the bell on Monday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that if peace talks between himself and Russian head of state Vladimir Putin failed, it would signal the start of a "third world war". While Ukrainian and Russian officials have met for peace talks in the past, both sides have failed to reach an agreement. Ukraine has also rejected an ultimatum to surrender the city of Mariupol to Russian soldiers.

Also drawing an amount of investor attention was news that a China Eastern Airlines passenger plane with 132 people on board had crashed near the city of Wuzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The number of casualties on board the six-year-old Boeing 737-800 was not immediately known but rescue teams have been sent to the crash site and say a fire in woods caused by the downed aircraft has been extinguished.

Market participants were also keeping a keen eye on rising Covid cases across Europe due to an emerging variant.

On the macro front, the Chicago Fed's February national activity index will be published at 1230 GMT, while Fed chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech ay 1600 GMT.

In the corporate space, Nike and Tencent will report earnings after the close.