Yahoo, Ford among biggest premarket movers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc is one of the biggest movers in premarket trading on Monday, up 2.8 percent at $40.69 as the Nasdaq's most active name in anticipation of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's initial public offering.

Alibaba is seeking to raise more than $21 billion in its IPO, which could take place in as little as two weeks and would represent the largest ever technology debut in the United States. Yahoo is a favorite way for investors to play Alibaba, the massive Chinese e-commerce company, given Yahoo's stake in the company.

Separately, Ford Motor Co is down 2.2 percent to $16.76 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "overweight." The stock has come under pressure of late, with the premarket move indicating its fourth straight daily decline.

Morgan Stanley's call comes amid broader bearish views on the U.S. auto industry, which it cut to "cautious" from "in-line," saying that easy credit and leasing was pulling forward demand from the future. It is cutting its price target on Ford to $16 from $17 and is lowering its target on General Motors to $29 from $33.

Futures are on track for a modestly lower open on Monday, with investors finding few reasons to extend a long-running rally that has taken indexes to repeated records amid overseas concerns and few domestic catalysts.

Futures snapshot at 0748 EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis are falling 3.5 points, or 0.17 percent, with 94,128 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis are down 4 points, or 0.1 percent, in volume of 15,658 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> are down 32 points, or 0.19 percent, with 15,272 contracts changing hands

(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Chizu Nomiyama)

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