Futures lower as rate hike timing weighs

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Monday as a strong jobs report on Friday increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as September.

* Stronger-than-expected jobs data for May and a pickup in wages were the latest signs of improved momentum in the economy, prompting expectations that the Fed will raise rates sooner than later.

* Wall Street's top banks said they expect the Fed to begin raising rates in September, followed by another increase before the end of the year, according to a Reuters poll.

* More sales of German government bonds weighed on European stock markets, while the dollar retreated after a report ? later denied ? that President Barack Obama had expressed concern over its strength after a year-long rally.

* Sears Holdings' shares rose 2.85 percent to $41.90 in premarket trading after the department store operator reported a smaller quarterly loss and said it plans to raise $2.6 billion from the spinoff of 235 stores into a real estate investment trust (REIT).

* Walter Energy slumped more than 35 percent to 29 cents and was set to open at record low after Bloomberg reported the coal miner could file for bankruptcy this month.

* McDonald's is scheduled to report its monthly sales for May before the market opens.

Futures snapshot at 7:32 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.13 percent, with 118,002 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 5.5 points, or 0.12 percent, on volume of 21,750 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 10 points, or 0.06 percent, with 23,457 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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