US stocks ended slightly lower as investors exercised caution ahead of next week's presidential election.
Other big events on the cards in the US this week include a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which starts on Tuesday, and the latest unemployment figures out on Friday.
The Fed is not expected to raise US interest rates until next month.
Economic data showed that personal spending in the US rose by 0.5 per cent in September driven by spending on durable goods, the strongest rise in three months.
Personal income increased by 0.3 per cent over the month.
Confidence was also boosted by more company mergers.
Over the weekend, General Electric said it would merge its oil and gas division with drilling firm Baker Hughes to create a new company worth $US32 billion.
A merged firm would be the world's second largest oilfield services provider, but the deal is based on oil prices increasing to $US60 a barrel by 2019.
GE shares fell 0.4 per cent to $US29.10 and Baker Hughes lost 6.3 per cent to $US55.40.
Telco CenturyLink says it will buy rival Level 3 Communications for $US24 billion.
CenturyLink shares plunged 12.5 per cent to $US26.58. Level 3 shares rose 3.8 per cent to $US56.15.
Medical firm Zimmer Biomet Holdings fell 14 per cent to $US105.40 after releasing its quarterly report. It was the biggest decline in the S&P 500.
Bank of England's Carney to stay on until Brexit complete
Markets in Europe lost ground, with the FTSE 100 in London, the DAX in Germany and the CAC 40 in Paris all ending in the red.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced he would stay as the boss of the UK's central bank for an extra year until June 2019 to oversee Brexit.
But he declined to stay until 2021, the full eight-year term he could have served.
"I would be honoured to extend my time of service as governor for an additional year to the end of June 2019," Mr Carney wrote in a letter to UK finance minister Philip Hammond.
"By taking my term in office beyond the expected period of the Article 50 process (for Britain to leave the EU), this should help contribute to securing an orderly transition to the UK's new relationship with Europe."
The pound rose on the __news to $US1.22.
The Australian market is also looking like it will fall in line with global markets, with the ASX SPI 200 down 0.2 per cent in futures trade.
Oil prices fell on doubts that major oil producers will go through with a planned cut in production, although OPEC officials did approve a document outlining the group's long term strategy.
Spot gold fell on the higher greenback but came off its lows in late trade.
Australian dollar steadies ahead of RBA rates decision
The greenback rose as concern faded about the FBI probe into Democratic presidential contender Hilary Clinton's use of a private server for emails.
The Australian dollar is steady against the US currency, with most economists surveyed by Reuters predicting that the Reserve Bank will leave official interest rates on hold today.
Only five out of 60 economists have forecast a cut in rates.
ANZ's economists are among those who think the RBA will hold its horses.
"Despite the soft underbelly in last week's CPI report, the RBA is likely to make few changes to its statement as it continues to balance the weak underlying inflation pulse with rising financial stability concerns," they noted.
"The statement will likely be broadly consistent with last month's, reiterating that inflation is low and likely to remain so."
ANZ sees Friday's Statement on Monetary Policy as being of more interest.
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