Morning Market Roundup: Sequester Week Two -- How We Doing?

Well, we’re in week two of sequestration. Here’s what’s shaking:

Stocks:

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Wall Street stock futures are signaling a declining Dow after six straight days of gains that pushed the index to a series of all-time highs.

Dow Jones industrial futures fell 18 points to 14,363. S&P 500 futures are down 3 points at 1,550. Nasdaq futures are down 6 points at 2,802.

Shares in Europe were weighed down by renewed worries about the region's struggling economies.

With little on the economic calendar in Europe and the U.S. Monday, stocks may be sluggish, especially after last week's historic run. Last week was capped with a government report showing the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in February from 7.9 percent in January.

Oil:

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Benchmark oil for April delivery is down 32 cents to $91.63 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Recent gains by the dollar against the Japanese yen and the euro also put pressure on oil prices. A stronger dollar makes oil a less enticing investment for traders using those other currencies, since oil is traded in dollars.

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, was down 76 cents to $110.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.