Wall Street set to open mixed amid Fed policy worries

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open mixed on Monday as traders balanced upbeat data from Germany and China with angst ahead of Federal Reserve speakers after last week's hawkish comments from a top Fed official.

A rise of more than 6 percent in Apple shares set the Nasdaq up for a positive open.

Germany's private sector grew in September at its fastest rate since January and a survey showed Chinese manufacturing activity accelerated to a six-month high in September, while U.S. factory activity lost some momentum.

Fed officials will be on the speakers' circuit Monday, including influential New York Fed President William Dudley, who will speak at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Investors will be paying close attention after St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard said Friday the Fed could still decide to start trimming its stimulus in October if data warrant it.

"We had some good news out of China and Europe and the elections in Germany are favorable for the euro zone, but focus remains on the Fed," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

"Fed speakers are going to keep this market on edge, they will continue to keep it guessing when they will begin to taper."

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart and Fed Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher are also due to speak Monday.

The S&P 500 and Dow industrials hit record highs last week after the Fed ignored investor expectations by postponing the start of the wind down of its massive monetary stimulus, saying it wanted to wait for more evidence of solid economic growth.

S&P 500 futures fell 4 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 23 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 13 points.

The prospect of a government shutdown or even a default in the following weeks could keep markets jittery even as Wall Street analysts sense the current drama is likely to feature more bluster than bravado.

Apple shares gained 6.1 percent in premarket trading after it said it sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models in the first three days after their launch on Friday.

U.S.-traded shares of BlackBerry fell 2.4 percent in premarket trading after the Canadian smartphone maker announced Friday a change in focus away from the consumer in favor of businesses and governments. The move has fueled fears about BlackBerry's long-term viability.

German shares were lower though they remained near last week's record high a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel won re-election. Her conservatives may need leftist rivals to form a coalition government.

The widely followed Dow Jones industrial average will open Monday with three new components as Goldman Sachs , Visa and Nike replace Bank of America , Hewlett-Packard and Alcoa .

On the S&P 500, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Ametek will replace Advanced Micro Devices and SAIC Inc .

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)