Wall Street index futures pointed lower Monday following the weekend meeting of the Group of 20 national leaders.

The G20 leaders met in Washington on Friday and Saturday, making no concrete commitments to resolve the global financial crisis, but pledging to work together to provide loans to financial institutions.

Investors are waiting to see whether the U.S.-based automakers will get a taxpayer bailout. Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation Monday, aiming to give General Motors, Ford and Chrysler part of the US$700 billion set aside to support the financial industry. A vote could come as early as Wednesday.

GM also was in discussions with the German government about guarantees for its Opel division. GM also sold its remaining stake in Suzuki for US$230 million.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US81.03¢, down 0.57 cent after losing 2.6 cents last week.

In commodities news, light sweet crude was down $1.51 at US$55.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Fort Hills oilsands partners have put off an investment decision on the mine near Fort McMurray, Alta., likely until next year. And the partners – Petro-Canada, Teck Cominco Ltd. and UTS Energy Corp. – indefinitely shelved a decision on the proposed project’s upgrader near Edmonton.

In earnings news, U.s. retailers Target and Lowe’s both reported a 24% drop in net income.

In other financial news, Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit plans to announce as many as 50,000 job cuts at a staff meeting Monday morning, CNBC reported.

The Associated Press said the bank would eliminate 53,000 jobs in coming quarters, citing a person briefed on the plans.

Goldman Sachs Group will be in the spotlight as the Wall Street investment bank’s top executives have decided to forgo their bonuses this year.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.7% despite numbers released by the Japanese government that indicated the country has entered a recession.

Japan’s economy shrank by 0.4% in the July-September period after having declined 3.7% in its second quarter, according to figures released on Monday.

In Europe, the UK FTSE 100 fell 1.8% early in the afternoon in London. Germany’s DAX index fell 2% and France’s CAC-40 lost 1.8%.

On Friday, Toronto stocks staged a broad retreat, led lower by weakness in energy and materials issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 296.82 points, or 3.17%, at 9,055.96, after rising 4.8% on Thursday.

The index was down 5.6% for the week.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index shed 11.98 points, or 1.47%, to 801.61.

In New York, U.S. stocks plunged once again as a record drop in retail sales highlighted fears about consumer spending and a deepening economic downturn.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 337.94 points, or 3.82%, to end at 8,497.31. The S&P 500 Index fell 38.00 points, or 4.17%, to finish at 873.29. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 79.85 points, or 5%, to close at 1,516.85.

For the week, the Dow lost 5%, while the S&P 500 dropped 6.2% and the Nasdaq tumbled 7.9%.