NEW YORK, Aug 2 (AFP) - US stocks were expected to open weaker Monday in the wake of weekend terror alerts issued by the US government suggesting al-Qaeda terrorists have staked out key financial targets in New York and Washington.
The New York Stock Exchange's chief executive John Thain was meeting traders coming to work at the world's largest exchange Monday in a bid to reassure its employees that adequate precautions were being taken in the light of the warnings.
At 1225 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract was trading down 52 points at 10,088.00 while Nasdaq futures were down 7.5 points at 1,395.50 in pre-open trading. The NYSE opens for trading at 9:30 am local time (1330 GMT).
The broader market Standard and Poor's 500 index was trading down 4.1 points at 1.097,0.
"Obviously, the market is going to be nervous at the opening due to the raising of the terror alert level," said Peter Cardillo, a stock analyst at SW Bach.
However, he said it would have "a minimal effect because people are getting used to it ... and the fact that security has been tightened is quite positive."
Futures were lower after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned Sunday that the al-Qaeda terror network had drawn up plans targetting the NYSE as well as the IMF and World Bank headquarters in Washington.
Citigroup buildings in New York and Prudential Financial offices in northern New Jersey were also said to be on a list of potential terror targets, Ridge said the "preferred method of attack is car and truck bombs."
Extra police officers are on duty in New York and Washington in the wake of the threats around key buildings and installations.