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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set to open lower Monday amid the latest developments in Europe's debt crisis.
Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all lower. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Eurozone fears are back in the spotlight after Spain formally requested aid for its banking sector from the Eurogroup on Monday.
Elisabeth Afseth, a fixed income analyst with Investec in London, said the move is a significant one for bondholders. Tapping into the region's permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, would give the fund precedence over other creditors.
"If you didn't really want to buy Spanish bonds, you certainly don't want to after this formal request," she said.
Additionally, Cyprus was hit Monday with a downgrade by credit ratings agency Fitch. Cyprus could soon become the latest, and smallest, member of the euro currency union to request a bailout from the European Union.
Heads of state from Germany, France, Italy and Spain said Friday that they had agreed on a set of growth-enhancing policies equal to about €125 billion, or 1% of eurozone gross domestic product.
They did not go into detail, but the specifics are expected to be fleshed out when leaders from all 27 members of the European Union meet later in the week for a summit in Belgium.
In the United States, the government will release figures for new home sales in May. The Supreme Court could also announce a ruling on President Obama's health care reform law.
U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, one day after fears of slow growth and bank downgrades sent them spiraling downward.
World markets: European stocks were in the red in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) slid 0.8%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany dropped 1.7% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) lost 1.5%.
Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) stumbled 1.6%, the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong shed 0.5% and Japan's Nikkei (N225) fell 0.7%.
Economy: New home sales for May are expected to come in at an annualized rate of 350,000, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com, up from 343,000 in the prior month.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained strength against the euro and British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.
Oil for August delivery fell 70 cents to $79.60 a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $3.40 to $1,570.30 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.62% from 1.67% late Friday.
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