Yahoo, Brewers Among Most Active Premarket; Futures Flat

Yahoo (YHOO.O) was the most traded stock on the Nasdaq in premarket action on Monday as traders looked for ways to step in front of Alibaba Group's (IPO-BABA.N) debut, expected on the NYSE later this week.

Alibaba's could be the largest initial public offer in history and has seen “overwhelming” interest, meaning Yahoo's 23 percent stake could be worth more next week than it is now. Yahoo stock was up 1.2 percent with more than 600,000 shares already traded.

Stocks active early on Monday include Molson Coors (TAP.N), up nearly 6 percent at $76 after the Wall Street Journal reported that number 1 brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) (BUD.N) was talking to banks about financing a possible $122 billion takeover bid of SABMiller (SAB.L).

The report comes a day after Dutch brewer Heineken (HEIN.AS) said it was approached by SABMiller about a potential takeover.

U.S. stock index futures were falling slightly after data showing China's factory output grew at the weakest pace in nearly six years in August triggered some downgrades in 2014 growth forecasts for the world's second-largest economy.

Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell to its lowest in more than two years, below $97 per barrel, weighed by the Chinese data. A further decline in crude oil prices will likely weigh on stocks as the energy sector of the S&P 500 .SPNY continues to struggle, down 8 percent from its record set 12 weeks ago.

REUTERS