Reuters
Security Fears May Hit Stocks at Open
Monday March 15, 7:53 am ET
By Denise Duclaux
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set for a weak open on Monday as security fears swept over Wall Street amid signs that al Qaeda may have been behind last week's deadly bomb attack in Madrid.
"It just unsettles psychology," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. "If you want to buy stocks because you are confident in the future, this helps to temper that enthusiasm."
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News over the weekend that a purported spokesman for the Islamic militant group al Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the bombings, which killed 200 people, sparked fears that additional attacks could hamper the global economic recovery.
U.S. equity futures tracked European markets lower. Futures fell 4 points for the S&P 500, dropped 28 for the Dow industrials and fell 7.50 points for the Nasdaq 100.
Spanish stocks ranked among the biggest losers in Europe. Madrid's IBEX (Madrid:^IBEX - News) index fell more than 2 percent as a surprise win by the Socialists in Sunday's general election also raised concerns over the future direction of economic policy.
Investors overseas gravitated toward safe-haven government bonds and gold. The dollar fell half a percent against the euro and a full percent against the Swiss franc, another traditional safe haven.
Investors in Asia managed to put aside security fears and chased Friday's Wall Street rally, sending most major indexes higher.
Wall Street will face a busy week of economic data. The New York Fed's Manufacturing Survey for March is due before the opening bell and industrial production and capacity utilization for February are due out at 9:15 a.m. Housing starts, consumer prices and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey of business conditions are set for later this week.
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