MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stock Futures Struggle, With Tech Sector Flirting With Gains

Analyst: Hawkish central bankers may keep weighing on equities

U.S. stock futures on Monday looked set to open slightly lower, putting the benchmarks on track to log modest losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped by 34 points, or 0.1%, at 21,336, S&P 500 futures were tilting lower, but by less than a point, or about 0.1%, at 2,421. Nasdaq-100 futures gained added 1.50 points, or less than 0.1%, to 5,657.

Last week, the S&P 500 index , Dow and Nasdaq Composite advanced between 0.1% and 0.3%, helped by a rally following Friday's solid U.S. jobs report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-in-holding-pattern-ahead-of-top-tier-jobs-report-2017-07-07). The three gauges have all tacked on 8% or more so far this year, but they're trading below their record peaks hit in June.

Investors are paying attention to whether oil prices can pull out of a slump--and whether the technology sector (XLK) can follow through on Friday's rally, which left the Nasdaq Composite higher by 1%. This week's key events will include Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen speaking before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as earnings season getting under way, with reports due Friday from big banks.

Read more:Stock market tracking tech rebound, oil slump ahead of big bank earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-tracking-tech-rebound-oil-slump-ahead-of-big-bank-earnings-2017-07-08)

"Central banks are likely to remain a key focus for investors this week, with the sudden hawkish shift among a number of them in recent weeks pushing bond yields higher and weighing on risk appetite," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

"While the impact of this hasn't weighed too heavily on equity markets so far, it does appear to have taken the edge off the rally and may continue to do so in the coming months," Erlam added.

Economic news: A reading on consumer credit is slated to hit at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Individual movers: Shares in Tesla Inc.(TSLA) could see active trading Monday after falling 13% last week (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-bad-week-gets-worse-as-elon-musks-credibility-takes-another-hit-2017-07-06), as the first Model 3 sedan rolled off the electric-car maker's assembly line (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-shows-off-first-model-3-to-roll-off-assembly-line-2017-07-09) over the weekend.

Beauty products maker Helen of Troy Corp.(HELE) is among the companies expected to post earnings before the open, while household chemicals seller WD-40 Co.(WDFC) and IT company Barracuda Networks Inc.(CUDA) are due to report after the market's close.

Other markets: European stocks traded higher, after Asian markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-bounce-back-after-last-weeks-losses-2017-07-09) mostly closed with gains. Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rebound-as-some-see-last-weeks-selloff-as-overdone-2017-07-10) were lower, staying under pressure following last week's selloff.

Gold futures stepped lower, and a key dollar index was inching up.

Check out:MarketWatch's Economic Calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 10, 2017 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)