Stock Futures Slide as EU Summit Looms Large

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U.S. stock-index futures fell solidly into the red on Monday as market participants grew increasingly frustrated with the glacial pace of progress in stemming Europe's debt crisis with yet another summit on the horizon.

Today's Markets

As of 8:05 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slumped 82 points to 12486, S&P 500 futures dipped 10 points to 1317 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 15 points to 2559.

Europe continues to be a major focus among world trading desks. Leaders there have crafted a patchwork of temporary solutions that briefly calm the markets before new and old problems rise back to the surface.

Spain formally requested up to $125 billion in aid to rescue its ailing banks on the day, however, it failed to specify exactly how much it will need. The country's cost to borrow for 10 years is at 6.49% in the secondary market -- too high to sustain for long, but less then the 7.3% where it peaked last week. Meanwhile, the cost to insure $10 million worth of the country's bonds climbed to $575,000 in a sign of the worries that it may become the highest-profile victim of the debt crisis.

A European Union summit, in which policymakers are expected to discuss a possible banking union, is slated for Thursday and Friday. Such events have fallen short of expectations many times in the past, causing frustration among traders who want to look past Europe.

"These days markets always seem to be waiting to see how something will turn out," analysts at Nomura wrote in a note to clients. "As soon as one event gets cleared the market immediately looks to another future event that should finally add 'clarity,' and invariably it doesn’t."

The Euro Stoxx 50, which tracks eurozone blue chips, sold off by 1.8%, while the euro dipped 0.75% to $1.2476.

The markets are also set to get several key reports on the U.S. economy this week. On Monday, the main report centers around the housing market. The number of new home sales is expected to have ticked up slightly to 345,000 in May from the month before. The weak housing market has weighed on the broader economic recovery, and has struggled to pick up momentum for years.

Oil prices followed equities to the downside. The benchmark crude oil contract traded in New York fell 83 cents, or 1%, to $78.94 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline jumped 1.1% to $2.598 a gallon.

In metals, gold rose $2.90, or 0.19%, to $1,570 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 sold off by 1.8%, the English FTSE 100 dipped 0.56% to 5483 and the German DAX dropped 1.6% to 6165.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 slumped 0.72% to 8735 and the Chinese Hang Seng slipped 0.51% to 18897.