Stock futures sag after Greek, French votes

5/7/2012

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.83 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.76 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.78 percent at 5:10 a.m. EDT (0910 GMT).

The index futures fell after Greek voters trounced ruling parties in elections on Sunday, a result that put the country's future in the euro zone at risk, and as Socialist candidate Francois Hollande won the

French presidency.

Greek voters dealt a serious blow on Sunday to the fragile political consensus that has kept Europe's currency bloc intact through more than two years of crisis, rejecting the austerity-for-aid policies that have shielded the country from bankruptcy and a euro exit.

Greece's vote, combined with the victory of Socialist Francois Hollande over incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a French presidential election, will raise pressure on Europe's paymaster Germany to pursue a more growth-oriented approach to the crisis.

The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E index was down 1.2 percent, while Greece's benchmark index .ATG tumbled 6.6 percent and the country's banking index .FTATBNK sank 15 percent.

Brent crude fell below $113 a barrel on Monday, hitting its lowest since January, while gold edged lower, pressured by a stronger dollar.

General Motors (GM.N) and its China joint ventures sold 227,217 vehicles in the country in April, up 11.7 percent from a year earlier.

Satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe Inc (DGI.N) on Sunday rejected a $792 million takeover offer from rival GeoEye Inc (GEOY.O), saying the hostile bid substantially undervalued the company and its financial prospects.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone's telecom start-up LightSquared MOSAV.UL, while Falcone continues to negotiate with creditors to avoid a debt default, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Wall Street ended its worst week this year with a sharp sell-off on Friday after a slowdown in job creation in the world's top economy raised the biggest question mark yet about the prospects for growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 168.32 points, or 1.27 percent, to 13,038.27 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX lost 22.47 points, or 1.61 percent, to 1,369.10. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 67.96 points, or 2.25 percent, to 2,956.34.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Toby Chopra)