Stocks set for lower open

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised for a weak open Monday as anxiety about corporate profits weighed on investors.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were lower ahead of the opening bell.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Last week's stock rally - the market's best week in a year - has helped bolster sentiment. But investors are still cautious, especially as companies are due to begin posting their second-quarter financial results.

"The market has had a nice run here in the past week, but the big story now is earnings," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners. "There are a lot of expectations out there, so earnings will have to beat these, and corporate America is going to have to avoid being murky with their forecasts or else the market could be subject to a reversal."

Earnings: Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) kicks off the corporate reporting period when it releases its latest quarterly results after the closing bell Monday.

Overall second-quarter profits are expected to be up 27%, according to trackers at Thomson Reuters. But those results don't factor in the feelings of unease, triggered by Europe's debt woes and fears of a faltering economic recovery, that have swept markets recently.

Companies: Shares of BP (BP) jumped 3% in pre-market trading amid reports that the company is in talks to sell some of its assets, including stakes in its Alaska operations.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said a deal with Apache (APA, Fortune 500) could be worth as much as $10 billion.

A spokesperson for Apache told CNN the company does not comment on speculation.

Hewitt Associates (HEW) rose 33% before the market open after insurance brokerage Aon Corporation (AON, Fortune 500) agreed to buy the outsourcing company for $4.9 billion in cash and stock.

Wood products company Weyerhaeuser (WY, Fortune 500) climbed 8% after announcing it will pay shareholders a special dividend of $5.6 billion in a step to become a real estate investment trust.

World markets: In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were all up more than 0.2% in the early going.

Asian markets finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei fell 0.4%.

Dollar and commodities: The dollar was up against the euro and the British pound, but was down slightly versus the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for August delivery fell 14 cents to $75.95 a barrel.

COMEX gold's August contract slipped $5.30 to $1,204.50 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 3.04% from 3.06% late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.