Stock futures flat ahead of earnings deluge
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures were little changed Monday, as investors waded through a deluge of earnings reports from corporate juggernauts such as McDonald’s Corp. and prepared for a raft of delayed economic data due later in the week.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE JZ3) rose 1 point, or less than 0.1%, to 15,317. S&P 500 index futures (GLC:SPZ3) added 0.9 point to 1,737.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures (GLC:NDZ3) gained 7.50 points, or 0.2%, to 3,349.50.

Shares of Dow component McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) lost 1.4% in premarket action as the global fast-food purveyor reported third-quarter earnings. Related story: Earnings peak week to overshadow economic data.

“A cautious mood is generally the idea among traders today, as we are set to unravel the batch of the delayed U.S. economic data. The U.S. nonfarm-payroll data will kick start the economic engine tomorrow, and if there was no government shutdown, this economic data could have been the key factor in determining the tapering quiz for the Federal Reserve’s chairman, Ben Bernanke,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst Avatrade, in a note.

“Given that we have another U.S. nonfarm reading due for October in a few weeks, this nonfarm reading could carry not much other importance than a footnote. [And seeing] that we had a government shutdown for two weeks, the October nonfarm payroll data could very well be skewed as well,” he said. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-future...atest_news