Slow out of the gate

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures pointed to a weak opening Monday as investors mulled last week's record-setting rally and prepared for a deluge of earnings reports.

At 7:35 a.m. ET, futures were lower, with a comparison to fair value pointing to a negative start for U.S. stocks.

After a week in which both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 hit new record highs, bullish investors will try to push stocks even higher.

Traders have their hands full this week with a string of corporate earnings reports as well as testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later in the week.

Kicking off the deluge of reports Monday was toy maker Mattel (Charts, Fortune 500), whose earnings were in line with expectations.

Later on in the week, tech giants Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) and Intel (Charts, Fortune 500) are due to report. Financial firms Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500), Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (Charts, Fortune 500) are also slated to post earnings this week.

In major corporate news, British mobile phone group Vodafone is considering a $160 billion takeover bid for Verizon Communications (Charts, Fortune 500), according to a report in the online edition of the Financial Times. Verizon shares jumped 4 percent in premarket trading.

Pancake house operator IHOP (Charts) said it agreed to buy fellow restaurant operator Applebee's International (Charts) for about $2.1 billion.

Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) said it is not in negotiations to sell its Volvo unit after reports over the weekend said the automaker had decided to put the Swedish unit up for sale. Ford shares rose nearly 2 percent in Frankfurt.

Oil prices edged higher. U.S. light crude for August delivery added 18 cents to $74.11 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices were flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note holding around 5.09 percent.

The dollar held near record lows against the euro and remained steady versus the yen ahead of Bernanke's testimony before Congress on Wednesday.

In global trade, European stocks were mixed in midday trading, and most Asian markets finished the session slightly lower.