Futures Are Dropping

S&P 500 futures have been falling for the past hour, and are now pointing to a -0.2% open to start the week.

Overnight, China flash manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.1 in August, suggesting a faster-than-expected acceleration in the Chinese manufacturing sector this month. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.3%, but the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.6% and the Japanese Nikkei fell 0.2%.

In Europe, euro-area composite PMI rose to the highest level in 27 months, but the number was propelled higher by acceleration in the services sector, while manufacturing sector growth decelerated.

European markets are in the red across the board. The London FTSE is down 0.6%, the German DAX and Spanish IBEX are both down 0.5%, the French CAC 40 is down 0.3%, and the Italian FTSE MIB is down 0.2%.