Morning Market Movers: What’s Happening With Markets This Morning?

Here’s what’s shaking:

Apple:

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Apple said Monday that it sold more than 2 million iPhone 5 units in China in their first three days of availability, setting a record for that market.

IPhone 5, which launched in China on Friday, will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of December.

The phone first went on sale on Sept. 21 in the U.S., Germany, France, Japan and five other countries, with more than 5 million of the phones sold in the first three days.

That sales tally also set a record, but only beat last year's iPhone 4S launch by a small margin, falling short of some analysts' expectations. Apple shares hit an all-time high of $705.07 that day, but in the months since the stock has plunged about 28 percent.

Apple Inc. shares fell $6.85 to $502.94 in premarket trading Monday.

Japan:

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Japanese shares outperformed all others Monday amid hopes that the new government will soon enact fresh stimulus measures.

The country's Nikkei 225 index jumped 0.9 percent to close at 9,828.88, its highest level since April, after the country's Liberal Democratic Party swept back into power at weekend elections with a landslide victory.

Expectations of further stimulus in Japan, despite the country's sky-high debt levels and doubts over the effectiveness of looser economic policy, further weighed on the yen. The dollar was 0.4 percent higher at $83.79 yen.

The yen's recent weakness is a potential boon to the country's powerhouse exporters. Automaker Nissan Motor Co. rose 1.8 percent, Sony Corp. climbed 1.4 percent and Panasonic Corp jumped 2.3 percent.

Elsewhere, stocks were having a lackluster start to the week amid concerns over whether the White House and Congress will agree a U.S. budget deal in time to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the start of next year.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.4 percent at 5,897 while Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent to 7,583. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 percent lower at 3,620.

Wall Street was poised for a flat opening with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures more or less flat.

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As of this writing, oil is up and U.S. stocks are mixed:

U.S. Stocks:

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Stock futures are mixed on the first of a string of reports involving the housing sector.

Dow Jones industrial futures are up 10 points to 12,097. The broader S&P futures have added 1.8 points to 1,411. Nasdaq futures are down 5.25 points to 2,618.

Oil:

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The price of oil hovered below $87 a barrel Monday as uncertainty over a deal on the U.S. budget overshadowed expectations of economic stimulus in Japan and China.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for January delivery was down 7 cents to $86.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract ended up 84 cents Friday at $86.73.

In London, Brent crude was down 36 cents at $107.82 on the ICE Futures exchange.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.