Stocks seen opening lower

* European Council President Herman Van Rompuy calls an emergency meeting of top officials to discuss the debt crisis, amid fears it could engulf Italy, the region's third-biggest economy.

* The Eurogroup meeting of European finance ministers meets to discuss the debt crisis, including a second bailout package for Greece.

* Italian market regulator Consob on Sunday approved new short-selling disclosure rules to limit stock volatility after a selloff hit domestic bank shares and government bonds on Friday.

* Democrats and Republicans fail to reach agreement over a budget and debt deal at a meeting on Sunday. Discussions are set to resume at the White House on Monday afternoon.

* Chinese annual inflation rose to a three-year high in June, data released on Saturday showed, increasing chances for yet more monetary policy tightening there.

* Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal launch a $5 billion bid for Australian firm Macarthur Coal , the world's biggest producer of pulverized coal.

* Alcoa Inc is set to kick off the second-quarter earnings season with analysts expecting a profit of 34 cents a share compared with 13 cents last year, with revenues seen up 20 percent to $6.3 billion.

* News Corp's $14 billion bid to buyout UK broadcaster BSkyB face opposition from the British government, lawyers for whom are drawing up plans to block the deal, the Independent newspaper said.

* American International Group plans to replace one or more Wall Street banks in its next sale of shares from the U.S. government, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

* Texas pipeline company Southern Union Co , which is the subject of a takeover bidding war, held talks with at least nine potential suitors beginning in 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

* Indonesian villagers who accused Exxon Mobil Corp's security forces of murder, torture and other atrocities have regained their right to sue the giant oil company in the United States.

* Dana Holding Corp eyes massive growth in China.

* Nestle bids around $1.7 billion for a 60 percent stake in Chinese candy maker Hsu Fu Chi International .

* Hong Kong's richest man bids for UK water company Northumbrian Water in a deal valuing the company at around 2.4 billion pounds ($3.9 billion).

* Australia introduces a carbon tax scheme, hitting shares in miners, steel firms and airlines.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell 0.5 percent on Monday, extending a 0.8 percent fall in the previous session, weighed by euro zone sovereign debt concerns.

* Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 percent overnight on profit taking after three weeks of gains, hurt by weak U.S. and Chinese data.

* The Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.29 points, or 0.49 percent, to 12,657.20 points on Friday, weighed by a much worse than expected non-farm payrolls reading for June.

* The Standard & Poor's 500 index , meanwhile, shed 9.42 points, or 0.70 percent, to 1,343.80, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.85 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,859.81.

* The U.S. employment trend index for June is due for release at 1400 GMT.

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)