Stock futures were higher early Monday morning, as investors may be trying to stage a comeback after Friday's steep selloff triggered by an abysmal jobs reports where an unemployment jumped to 5.5% from 5% the month before, and a hike in oil prices to a new all-time record high just below $140 a barrel.On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with a loss of 394.64 points, down 3.1% to 12,209.81, for a weekly loss of 3.4%. It was its biggest one-day decline on both a point and percentage basis since February 2007. The Nasdaq Composite was down 75 points or 3% to 2,474.56, but ended the week down 1.9%. The S&P 500 stock index, lost 43 points Friday, or 3.1%, to 1,360.68, and was down 2.8% for the week.
Not much is on the economic calendar Monday, except for U.S. pending home sales for April are set for release at 10 a.m. EDT, expected to have dropped further.
Oil prices fell Monday, retreating from a record surge late last week of more than $11 a barrel during Friday's session. But trading was volatile inside a wide range of $135-138. Around midday in Europe, sweet crude for July delivery was down $1.21 to $137.33 a barrel. Traders said the market would remain choppy amid jitters about supplies, growing global demand and a weak U.S. dollar.
Meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States hit $4 for the first time ever Sunday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Record prices at the pump, of course leave less disposable income in the hands of consumers, affecting the economy further.
Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) said it had a second-quarter loss of approximately $2.8 billion or $5.14 per share due to more pain from the credit crisis. It said it will raise $6 billion through a stock issuance. The stock is down over 12% in premarket trading.
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