Stock futures dip after run-up, China data weighs

NEW YORK -

Stock futures dipped on Monday, indicating the S&P 500 may pull back from its best weekly performance since June after data in China increased worries over a slowing global economy.

Chinese imports fell 2.6 percent on the year in August, short of expectations for a 3.5 percent rise. Exports grew 2.7 percent, below forecasts for a 3 percent rise in a Reuters poll. The data increased the odds of more Beijing-backed spending to deal with the damage done to the domestic economy by firms cutting production, inventories and imports due to weak global demand.

Investors are expected to grapple with a host of events this week which could jolt markets, including the possibility of more stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve and a ruling by Germany's constitutional court on the legality of the euro zone's permanent financial rescue fund.

The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 2.3 percent last week, its biggest weekly gain in three months on increasing expectations for more stimulus measures, highlighted by a disappointing jobs report on Friday.

S&P 500 futures fell 2.7 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 33 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 5.75 points.

American International Group Inc shed 2.4 percent to $33.16 after the U.S. Treasury Department said it will sell most of its stake in the insurer, making the government a minority investor for the first time since it rescued the company in the depths of the financial crisis four years ago.

BP is in talks to sell some of its Gulf of Mexico oil fields to Plains Exploration & Production Co for roughly $7 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, as the U.K. oil firm looks to raise money to pay for damages from the 2010 oil spill. U.S.-listed shares rose 1.1 percent to $42.40 in light premarket trade.

European shares trimmed the previous session's gains, with investors in consolidation mode awaiting catalysts such as potential stimulus from the United States and a German constitutional court ruling on the euro zone's bailout fund. <.EU>

Asian shares crept up with the soft Chinese data overshadowed by expectations for fresh stimulus from the Federal Reserve and for Europe to make progress in tackling its debt crisis.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak)