Stock futures are pointing lower this morning as yesterday's selling pressure continues.
The S&P 500 is indicated to open lower by about 0.2 percent, although losses were much steeper overseas. Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped more than 1 percent. In Europe, the German DAX and French CAC-40 declined about half a percent.
The downside is mostly based on technicals rather than news events. The S&P 500 rallied more than 10 percent between early June and mid-August, returning to the same price area where it peaked earlier in the year. Now investors are taking profits and returning to Treasury bonds, which had fallen sharply as stocks appreciated.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet today to discuss further solutions to the European debt, although no major announcements are expected until September. The news flow will probably slow next week as policymakers and investors take summer vacations.
Foreign-exchange and commodity markets are showing a similar trend toward risk aversion this morning. Oil, copper and silver fell by more than half of a percent, although natural gas rose. Most agricultural foodstuffs are higher. The euro and Australian dollars fell.
In company-specific news, software maker Autodesk is down by more than 20 percent after reporting weak second-quarter results. Eli Lilly climbed about 6 percent after drug trial results showed its solanezumab compound helped reduce the effects of Alzheimer's disease.
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