US STOCKS-Futures flat; White House turmoil, N. Korea in focus

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Monday, with investors keeping an eye on the White House as well as the tension between the United States and North Korea – themes that have affected the market the most in the past two weeks.

* Wall Street ended lower on Friday following a White House-focused week that raised more questions about the Trump administration's ability to implement its pro-growth agenda.

* Those concerns led the S&P 500 to close roughly 1 percent below its 50-day moving average, the furthest below that key technical measure since mid-April, and the closest to its 200-day moving average since the election.

* President Donald Trump fired chief strategist Steve Bannon on Friday, known as an economic nationalist and an advocate of "America First" policies, in the latest shakeup of his administration.

* The news followed a series of White House-focused events, including Trump's disbanding of some business councils and speculation about the possible departure of National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn.

* While geopolitical tensions seem to have eased between the United States and North Korea, South Korean and U.S. forces began computer-simulated military exercises on Monday.

* The U.S. stock market's steady rise, low long-term bond yields and a sagging dollar are girding the Federal Reserve's intent to raise interest rates again this year despite concerns about weak inflation, according to comments from Fed officials and analysts.

* Fed Chair Janet Yellen could shed more light on the Fed's position later this week at the annual get-together of top central bankers from around the world in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

* Among stock, Nike's shares were down 1.16 percent in premarket trading after Jefferies downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy" and cut its price target by $15 to $60.

* NYSE-listed shares of Fiat Chrysler were up 3.10 percent after China's Great Wall Motor said it was interested in bidding for the Italian-American carmaker.

Futures snapshot at 7:03 a.m. ET (1103 GMT):

* Dow e-minis were down 2 points, or 0.01 percent, with 22,964 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent, with 173,703 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.07 percent, on volume of 28,678 contracts.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)