U.S. stock index futures were little changed in light volume on Monday following upbeat data from Germany and China, while Federal Reserve speakers could keep investors on edge after last week's hawkish comments from a top Fed official.
Germany's private sector grew in September at its fastest rate since January and a survey showed Chinese manufacturing activity accelerated to a six-month high in September, giving equities support.
Four Fed officials, including influential New York Fed President William Dudley, will speak on Monday, with investors paying close attention after St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard said Friday the Fed could still decide to start trimming its stimulus in October if inflation and unemployment data warrant it. <FED/DIARY>
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials hit record highs last week after the Fed ignored investor expectations by postponing the start of the wind down of its massive monetary stimulus, saying it wanted to wait for more evidence of solid economic growth.
S&P 500 futures fell 1 point and were about even with fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 12 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 12 points.
The widely followed Dow Jones industrial average .DJI will open Monday with three new components as Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Visa (V.N) and Nike (NKE.N) replace Bank of America (BAC.N), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) and Alcoa (AA.N).
On the S&P 500, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX.O) and Ametek (AME.N) will replace Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N) and SAIC Inc (SAI.N).
U.S.-traded shares of BlackBerry (BBRY.O) fell 5.8 percent in premarket trading after the Canadian smartphone maker announced Friday a change in focus away from the consumer in favor of businesses and governments. The move has fueled fears about BlackBerry's long-term viability.
German shares were little changed and near last week's record high after Chancellor Angela Merkel won a landslide victory in the general election on Sunday, but her conservatives may need leftist rivals to form a coalition government. <ID:>
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