Wall Street set to open lower after four-day run of gains

Wall Street was set to open lower on Monday after the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow recorded their first four-day winning streak in about five months last week.

European stocks fell as a drop in copper prices hurt shares of mining companies, while China's reassurances over the weekend about the strength in its economy helped push Asian stocks higher.

Copper and zinc prices fell from four-month highs, hurt by a stronger dollar and investors booking profits.

US stocks closed higher on Friday as employment data suggested the economy was recovering. However, the data was not strong enough for the Federal Reserve to consider an immediate increase in interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 17,000 for the first time since January, while the S&P 500 was just shy of 2,000, levels that traders consider psychologically important.

"The factors that have been driving the market have been some bargain hunting, some short covering and speculating off the belief that we have seen the worst of things," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

"Investors are taking a pause, stepping back and looking at what's the next driving element," he said.

At 8:31 a.m. ET (1331 GMT), Dow e-minis were down 42 points, or 0.25%, with 22,675 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.5 points, or 0.38%, with 194,803 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 18 points, or 0.42%, on volume of 26,371 contracts.

Crude prices were up more than 1% on Monday.

A string of upbeat data from major economies and stabilizing commodity prices have helped improve sentiment ahead of a relatively quiet week in terms of data for Wall Street as corporate earnings season draws to a close.

Investors will also keep a close eye on comments by Fed Board Governor Lael Brainard and Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, who are due to speak at separate events on Monday, for clues on the central bank's view on the economy.

Shares of Micron Technology were down 3.7% at $11.44 premarket after Nomura cut its rating on the stock to "reduce".

Valeant Pharmaceuticals was up 3.5% at $63.60. The Canadian drugmaker, which had delayed the release of its results last week, said it would report fourth-quarter numbers next week.

Urban Outfitters is due to report results after the close.