08:53 AM EDT, 10/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures fell ahead of Monday's opening bell as the Q3 earnings season gets underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.4%, S&P 500 futures dropped 0.4% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.5%.

Pepsico ( PEP ) is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday before banking majors JPMorgan ( JPM ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) formally kick off the earnings season on Friday.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 1% at $78.84 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 1.1% at $75.22 per barrel.

Consumer credit, due for release at 3 pm ET, is expected to drop to $11.8 billion in August from $25.45 billion in the preceding month, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.8% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.6% higher, while the Chinese market was closed for holiday. Across the Atlantic, UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.4%, and Germany's DAX index fell 0.2% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Pfizer ( PFE ) were 2.9% higher pre-bell after media outlets reported that the drugmaker may become the target of a shareholder campaign led by activist investor Starboard Value. Duckhorn Portfolio ( NAPA ) shares more than doubled after the company agreed to be acquired by Butterfly Equity in a deal worth $1.95 billion.

On the losing side, Mullen Automotive ( MULN ) shares fell 5.6% after the company unveiled a cost cutting plan that includes a 20% headcount reduction. Trevena ( TRVN ) shares retreated 48% after the company said late Friday it received a delisting notice from Nasdaq with trading of its shares to be suspended effective Tuesday.