U.S. stock futures pulled back ahead of data on manufacturing and home sales and testimony from the heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department on their agencies' responses to the pandemic.

Futures on the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% and futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%. The contracts don't necessarily predict market moves after the markets open.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.6% in morning trade, dragged lower by declines in the information-technology and real-estate sectors.

Hammerson rose 2.5% snapping a four-day losing streak.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100, which is dominated by large international businesses, shed 0.7%. Other stock indexes in Europe also mostly fell as France's CAC 40 declined 0.6%, the U.K.'s FTSE 250 lost 0.4% and Germany's DAX was down 0.7%.

The Swiss franc, the euro and the British pound were down 0.5%, 0.2% and 0.1% respectively against the U.S. dollar.

In commodities, international benchmark Brent crude slipped 1.5% to $63.64 a barrel. Gold also slipped 0.1% to $1,736.50 a troy ounce.

German 10-year bund yields declined to minus 0.334% and 10-year U.K. government debt known as gilts yields slipped to 0.792%. 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to 1.656% from 1.682% on Monday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Stocks in Asia mostly slipped as Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.4%, Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 0.6% after gaining 0.8% during the session, and China's benchmark Shanghai Composite was down 0.9%.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-23-21 0459ET