Wall Street looks for room to run

Stock futures are pointing higher but Wall Street could have trouble keeping its footing Monday following last week's dismal performance and ahead of housing numbers and the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the week.

At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures were mixed, with a comparison to fair value pointing to a to a positive opening for U.S. stocks.

Stocks were battered last week after the near collapse of two Bear Stearns (Charts, Fortune 500) hedge funds highlighted the risk posed by the subprime mortgage sector and raised concerns about trouble ahead for the credit markets. Rising Treasury yields also pressured sentiment.

This week, investors have a slew of economic reports to digest including the latest figures on existing home sales Monday. Trading could also be volatile before the Fed releases its policy statement, due on Thursday.

Following Wall Street's sell off on Friday, European shares opened lower, and most markets in Asia finished the session in negative territory.

In major corporate news, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) is closer to reaching an agreement with Dow Jones (Charts) over the editorial independence of the Wall Street Journal, according to published reports.

Takeover talks heated up this weekend and the two sides neared an agreement on editorial integrity, the New York Times and Journal reported. News Corp. has made a $5 billion bid for Dow Jones. [via]