Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.16% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.03% dip.
On Friday, the Commerce Department said U.S. new home sales fell by a larger-than-forecast 13.4% in July, the largest decline in more than three years.
The weak data sparked concerns over the strength of the recovery in the housing sector and fuelled speculation over whether the Fed will start to scale back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in September.
Tech stocks were expected to be active, as Microsoft shares dropped 0.60% in pre-market trade, as the company began looking for a new Chief Executive Officer, after announcing that Steve Ballmer said he will retire within 12 months.
Pharmaceutical companies were also likely to be in the spotlight after Amgen said it will acquire Onyx Pharmaceuticals in a USD10.4 billion transaction, giving Amgen access to a rapidly expanding cancer market.
Following the news, shares in Amgen surged 4.18% pre-market.
In the financial sector, Goldman Sachs placed four senior technology specialists on administrative leave after a programming error caused the investment bank to send faulty stock-options orders last week, according to a Financial Times report.
Separately, Moody's Investors Service warned last week that it might cut the credit ratings of the six biggest U.S. banks, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, saying the government may be unlikely to bail them out should they face trouble in the future.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.63%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.58%, Germany's DAX slipped 0.27%, while Britain's FTSE 100 remained closed for a national holiday.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down 0.18%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders.
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