Wall Street Sharply Lower as Traders Eye Hong Kong Unrest

U.S. stock futures dropped Monday following declines in Europe and Hong Kong.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 150 points, or 0.9%, to 16880. S&P 500 futures shed 18.5 points, or 0.9%, to 1957.5 and Nasdaq-100 futures declined 24 points, or 0.6%, to 4022. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.

There isn't "one headline that jumps out," said Steven Rees, global head of equity strategy at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, referring to the reason for Monday's premarket losses. "Part of it is that we had a really strong gain on Friday."

Stock futures remained lower after data showed consumer spending rose 0.5% in August from July, the Commerce Department said Monday. Personal income rose 0.3% in the same period. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.5% increase in spending and a 0.3% rise in income.

Later in the morning, investors will receive a reading on pending homes sales in August and a manufacturing survey from the Dallas Federal Reserve.

Major stock indexes declined last week. Volatility picked up, with the Dow posting triple-digit moves each day as investors weighed global growth concerns and prospects for interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve.

For the year, the S&P 500 has gained 7.3% and the Dow is up 3.2%, through Friday's close. Some investors see room for further gains in the next year as the economy continues to improve, boosting the likelihood for companies to increase profits. The unofficial start to earnings season comes on Oct. 8, when Alcoa reports third-quarter earnings.

Mr. Rees said he would be watching for revenue growth as well as signs of capital spending plans and comments on the outlook for 2015.

"Revenue growth into 2015 is going to be key to sustaining earnings growth, which we think is going to drive the bulk of the market upside," he said.

The negative tone started overnight in Hong Kong, where stocks fell 1.9% amid the government's crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Declines carried into the European session, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index down 0.4% and Germany's DAX shedding 0.4%. Investors also looked ahead to a meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was nearly flat at 2.495%, according to FactSet. Yields rise as prices fall.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. shares rose 25% in premarket trading. SoftBank Corp. is in talks to buy or partnership with DreamWorks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Investors continued to watch Pacific Investment Management Co., which suffered about $10 billion of withdrawals after co-founder Bill Gross left the firm Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Gross announced he would join Janus Capital Group Inc. to run an unconstrained bond fund. Shares of Janus Capital fell 2.7% premarket after surging 43% Friday.

In commodity markets, crude-oil futures fell 0.4% to $93.21 a barrel while gold futures gained 0.3% to $1,219.40 an ounce.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com