why dow jones futures down april 3 2012

why dow jones futures down april 3 2012,U.S. stock futures april 3 2012, us stock market april 3 2012 : U.S. stock futures were lower on Tuesday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. factory orders data as well as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting while concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.27%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.24% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.09% decline.

Stocks broadly rallied after a report on Monday showed the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded more-than-forecast in March.

In addition, official data from China on Sunday showed that manufacturing activity in the world’s second largest economy jumped to an 11-month high last month.

But concerns over the outlook for the euro zone persisted after official data confirmed that the bloc’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Annualized gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% in the fourth quarter.

Pharmaceuticals were expected to be active as GlaxoSmithKline shares rose 0.44% in pre-market trade after the company said it will push ahead with plans to file its experimental once-weekly diabetes drug albiglutide for regulatory approval, following the read-out from a series of clinical trials.

In addition, Illumina said on Monday that its board unanimously rejected Roche Holding's increased offer to buy the genetic sequencing company for about USD6.7 billion, saying it dramatically undervalued the company.

Meanwhile, Avon Products saw shares surge 1.32% in pre-market trade after Coty disclosed on Monday it had offered USD10 billion for the U.S. personal care company which rejected the bid as too low and "opportunistic".

Elsewhere, online movie service Netflix Inc. was slated to be in focus as shares tumbled 2.43% after being downgraded by Barclays.

Moves were also expected in the financial sector amid rumors of potential downgrades of U.S. lenders including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America by Moody’s rating agency. In pre-market trade, shares in Citigroup declined 0.43% and Bank of America dropped 0.31%.

Moody’s had said in February that Morgan Stanley may be lowered three grades, adding that Citigroup and Bank of America could join the U.S. lender at Baa2, two levels above junk.

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