US futures head lower, Spain seeks help for banks

(AP) US futures head lower, Spain seeks help for banks
NEW YORK
U.S. stock futures slid Monday, as did global markets, with Spain requesting help for its teetering banks.

Dow Jones industrial average futures tumbled 100 points to 12,468. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell 11.8 points to 1,315 and Nasdaq futures gave up 18.5 points to 2,555.

Spain isn’t saying how much of the $125 billion made available by the European Union that it will need.

The request comes just ahead of a critical economic summit in Brussels and markets have exhibited little faith that Europe will act quickly to address countries most at risk.

Germany’s finance minister has already rejected calls from President Barack Obama for Europe to move faster in containing its debt crisis. Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested that Obama get the American deficit under control instead.

Shares of European banks like Spain’s Banco Santander SA and Deutsche Bank AG fell sharply and investors distanced themselves from U.S. banking stocks as well in premarket trading, with shares of all major banks heading lower.

The U.S. Commerce Department reports new home sales figures for May after the market opens.

Economists expect that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 346,000 in May, up 0.9 percent from the April reading, according to a survey by FactSet.

Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing market, they have an enormous impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to statistics compiled by the National Association of Home Builders.

However, people are still having difficulty qualifying home loans and many can’t afford the large down payments required by banks.

The report is due at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.