(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures slipped on Monday as investors remained concerned about the details of US Treasury’s bailout plan. A rebound in Crude Oil prices also weighed upon the market.

At 13:18 London time, Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index was down 1.80 points (-0.65%) to 276.38.
Earlier on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Sunday urged that Congress must quickly approve a $700 billion proposal to buy bad mortgage debt and toxic assets in order to rescue credit market, which has virtually frozen in recent days. The plan is being seen as “mother of all bailouts” and is supposed to calm a nervous market and restore investor’s confidence. Paulson stressed that financial markets remain “fragile” and argued that the consequences of “inaction” could be disastrous.

The plan will give Treasury the authority to buy home loans, mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-related assets and, after consultation with the Federal Reserve chairman, ``other assets, as deemed necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets''. The Treasury would also have discretion, after discussions with the Fed, to make non-U.S. financial institutions eligible under the program. To cover the cost, Treasury has asked Congress to hike the government's debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion from $10.6 trillion. Further, Paulson is asking for the power to hire asset managers and award contracts to private companies.

In the past two weeks, markets have seen their worst with Freddie/Fannie (FRE/FNM) and AIG (AIG) taken over by government, Lehman Brothers (LEH) going Bankrupt and Merrill Lynch being sold out to Bank of America.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that new financial companies would be added to the list of those whose shares cannot be sold short. Companies in the sector that were left from the original list include, among others, General Electric Co. (GE) , American Express (AXP) , Capital One (COF) , and CIT Group. (CIT)

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve approved bids by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to become banks. Both Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are applying for banking licenses. In German trading, Morgan Stanley dropped 1% while Goldman Sachs fell 2%.

Ambac Financial (ABK) said a downgrade by ratings company Moody's Investors Service would leave its guaranteed investment contract business short of collateral to meet liabilities.

Memphis based car-parts retailer AutoZone Inc.'s (AZO) fourth-quarter earnings rose to $243.7 million, or $3.88 a share, from $217.2 million, or $3.23 a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts had estimated earnings of $3.90 a share on sales of $2.2 billion.

Europe markets were little changed in afternoon trade. At 13:22, London time, UK FTSE was down 0.23% while German DAX and French CAC climbed 0.33% and 0.20% respectively.

Asian stocks settled with strong gains, with the Nikkei 225 finishing up 1.42% in Tokyo.
At NYMEX, Crude oil jumped as much as $1.22 a barrel (+1.2%), to $105.77 a barrel. Dollar was trading weak against basket of major currencies.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.