Reuters U.S. stock futures signal losses on automaker woes

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to losses on Monday on worries over the troubled auto sector after Washington's rejection of viability plans from General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler.

At 0848 GMT, futures for the S&P 500 were down 2.7 percent, Dow Jones futures were down 2.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2.5 percent.

The Obama administration autos task force rejected the turnaround plans of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, forcing out GM's CEO Rick Wagoner, and warned both could be put through bankruptcy to slash debts.

Shares in GM traded in Frankfurt (GM.F) were down 16 percent.

The news weighed on auto stocks around the world, with Nissan Motor (7201.T) and Toyota Motor (7203.T) losing 7.7 percent and 3.7 percent respectively in Tokyo.

In Europe, Daimler (DAIGn.DE), which has a stake in Chrysler, was down 7.2 percent, Fiat (FIA.MI) was down 6.4 percent and BMW (BMWG.DE) down 6.8 percent.

Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 fell 4.5 percent and the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 3 percent in early trade, also hit by renewed fears over the banking sector after Spain announced it would bail out embattled regional savings bank Caja Castilla la Mancha. more...