NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks headed toward a slightly weaker open Monday, with futures turning lower after a profit warning from Motorola and the likelihood of continued consolidation following Friday's ho-hum session.

Traders said that with the Dow at a nine-month high and the Nasdaq at its highest point in more than a year, there lies the potential for profit taking before the next phase of the rally can kick in, but that this should be short-lived.

"The strong level of turnover experienced in both major New York Exchanges suggests that if this market were to pause for breath, it won't be for very long or very far," David Buick of Cantor Index told Reuters.

At around 8:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a little selling at the open for the major indexes.

Weakness in European markets and sluggish dollar trading contributed to investors' reservations, countering any benefits gained from weakness in oil and gold.

Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates) warned early Monday that its earnings per share and revenue for the second-quarter will miss current estimates. Shares fell around 3.5 percent in pre-market trade and looked likely to influence other issues in the telecommunications area.

Shares of mortgage broker Freddie Mac (FRE: Research, Estimates) fell more than 6 percent in the early going after the firm said that it had fired its president and chief operating officer due to questions as the Board reviewed the company's past financial records.

Investors also stayed focused on the software sector. On Friday, business software maker Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) made an unsolicited $5.1 billion bid for PeopleSoft (PSFT: Research, Estimates) in what many saw as an attempt to derail PeopleSoft's proposed buy of J.D. Edwards (JDEC: Research, Estimates), announced earlier in the week. On Saturday, PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway said that he couldn't imagine any price or combination of price and other conditions that would make him want to recommend the offer to shareholders.

The Dow Jones industrial average begins the week at 9,062.79 after a 2.4 percent increase last week. The Nasdaq composite index is at 1,627.42, holding on to a 2 percent gain for the week despite some losses Friday.

Stocks have rallied sharply in the past three months as investors have bet that an economic and corporate profit recovery is en route, despite only mixed evidence to support such beliefs.

The day's one report on the economy was unlikely to make the picture much clearer. It is the government's tally of wholesale inventories for April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect an increase of 0.2 percent, compared with an 0.5 percent rise in March.

Among the morning brokerage notes that could influence trade in the early going, Lehman Bros. upgraded Dow stock SBC Communications (SBC: Research, Estimates) to "overweight" from "equal weight," saying that the fundamentals have improved.

Credit Suisse First Boston raised its price target on security software provider Symantec (SYMC: Research, Estimates) to $58 from $56, saying that long-term, the firm will be able to leverage its strong software antivirus relationships into faster-growing security markets. The firm also raised its price target on sector mate Internet Security Systems (ISSX: Research, Estimates) to $20 from $16, saying that the company's fundamental outlook continues to improve.

Lehman Bros downgraded Tellabs (TLAB: Research, Estimates) to "underweight" from "equal weight," saying that investors are going to have to deal with further restructuring from the technology company.

Deutsche Bank raised its price target on SAP (SAP: Research, Estimates), saying that the turbulence over the Oracle-PeopleSoft debate could be helpful for the software company.

Asian stocks finished higher Monday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 0.4 percent to a six-month high. But weakness in tech stocks sent European markets lower at midday.

Treasury prices gained in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.32 percent from 3.35 percent late Friday. The dollar slipped against the yen and euro.

Brent oil futures retreated 18 cents to $27.60 a barrel in London. Gold also was lower in early trading in London.