Wall Street pointed lower before the opening bell Monday following its worst week since Halloween.

Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%.

Farmers blocked highway access roads in parts of Germany Monday and gathered for demonstrations, launching a week of protests against a government plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular three-party coalition infuriated farmers last month by drawing up plans to abolish a car tax exemption for farming vehicles and the diesel tax breaks. The proposals were part of a package to fill a 17-billion-euro ($18.6-billion) hole in the 2024 budget.

Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oil fell last year from record highs in 2022, when Russia's war in Ukraine, drought and other factors helped worsen hunger worldwide, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, was 13.7% lower last year than the 2022 average, but its measures of sugar and rice prices growing in that time.

Inflation plaguing Europe rose to 2.9% in December, rebounding after seven straight monthly declines as food prices rose and support for high energy bills ended in some countries. The rise in price levels fueled debate over how soon interest rate cuts could be expected from the European Central Bank.

The figure released Friday was up from the 2.4% annual inflation recorded in November — but is well down from the peak of 10.6% in October 2022.

Shipping giant Maersk said Friday that it would divert all vessels around Africa instead of using the Red Sea and Suez Canal for the "foreseeable future" after Yemeni rebels attacked its merchant ships.

The Danish company cited the highly volatile situation and noted that the security risk remains high.

The federal government's gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America's balance sheet in the coming years.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shutdown without an annual budget in place.

Wall Street was poised to open with losses again on Wednesday, one day after markets kicked off the new year giving back some of last year's big gains.

The European Union imposed sanctions on the world's biggest diamond mining company and its chief executive officer on Wednesday as part of what it called its "unwavering commitment" to Ukraine in the war against Russia.

The move targeted Alrosa, which accounts for about 90% of Russia's diamond production, and CEO Pavel Marinychev. The EU headquarters said the company "constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue" to Moscow.

Thousands of doctors walked off the job in Britain on Wednesday, the start of a six-day strike over pay that was set to be the longest in the history of the state-funded National Health Service.

Managers said tens of thousands scheduled appointments and operations will be canceled during the walkout across England and Wales by junior doctors, those in the first years of their careers. The doctors, who form the backbone of hospital and clinic care, plan to stay off the job until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the latest attack Wednesday on a merchant ship in the Red Sea, as the vessel's operator sharply raised prices between Asia and Europe.

The Iran-backed rebels, who have launched more than 20 attacks on merchant ships in recent weeks, said they attacked the Malta-flagged freighter believing it was headed for occupied Palestinian territory. The ship was not hit.