Stocks poised to fall
Futures decline ahead of wave of economic reports; Fed decision on interest rates in focus.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures declined early Monday as investors awaited a wave of economic reports and the Federal Reserve's upcoming rate decision.
A little more than two hours before the market open, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower and suggesting a negative open for stocks.
Stocks slipped Friday after the U.S. Labor Department reported a seventh straight month of job losses and investors mulled another plunge in monthly U.S. auto sales.
Economy: A slew of reports are on the economic calendar Monday, including the government's report on personal income and spending and a report on factory orders.
Economists polled by Briefing.com expect personal income fell 0.1%, and spending rose by 0.5% in June as Americans were squeezed by high prices. June factory orders are expected to rise 0.7%.
The economic data will be closely scrutinized as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy decision. The Fed, faced with economic weakness and inflation risks, is widely expected to hold rates steady Tuesday.
Also on tap are the Conference Board's employment trend report and a survey on job cuts from outplacement firm Challenger.
The two employment readings come on the heels of Friday's jobs report, which showed the U.S. economy lost 51,000 jobs in July while the jobless rate climbed to a four-year high of 5.7%.
Oil: The price of crude spiked hovered around $125 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 6 cents to $125.04 a barrel in electronic trading
HSBC: Europe's largest bank, HSBC (HBC), said Monday that profits fell 29% through the first half of the year, the most since 2001, due to bad U.S. mortgages.
ArcelorMittal: Global steel producer ArcelorMittal (MT) said it plans to ride out U.S. economic worries by buying a steel mill in Mexico and a coke plant in Monessen, Pa.
Time Warner: The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that media giant Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) could announce Wednesday that it has completed the accounting steps needed to split AOL's dial-up Internet-access business from its advertising and content business. The move could be a key step in the sale of one or both divisions, the Journal said. Time Warner is the parent company of CNNMoney.com.
Chrysler: Chrysler said on Sunday that its financial unit had renewed lines of credit totaling $24 billion. The privately-held automaker had originally sought $30 billion in credit.
The credit crunch is dealing a blow to automakers like Chrysler and rivals Ford (F, Fortune 500) and GM (GM, Fortune 500) at a time when they already are struggling with slumping sales. On Friday, Detroit's Big 3 automakers reported another sharp drop in U.S. sales in July.
Citigroup: New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Friday his office intends to file charges against Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) for the alleged fraudulent marketing and sale of troubled auction-rate securities to everyday investors.
Other markets: In Asia, stocks finished mostly lower as poor U.S. sales for Japanese automakers Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) weighed on Tokyo. European markets were mixed in morning trading. 
