US pre-open: Futures trade lower as traders digest earnings

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday as traders digested a number of earnings reports.

As of 1315 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.21%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.04% and 0.62% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 66.44 points higher on Monday, building on modest gains recorded in the previous session.

Earnings remained in focus yet again on Tuesday, with UPS trading lower after its quarterly numbers fell short of expectations, while PepsiCo raised its full-year earnings forecast after posting quarterly figures that beat expectations.

General Motors also reported strong Q1 revenue and profits, leading it to hike its annual guidance, and Mcdonald's delivered earnings that came in ahead of estimates by $0.30 amid strong diner demand and price hikes.

Still to come, Amazon and Microsoft will report earnings after the close.

On the macro front, building permits tumbled 8.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.41m in March, taking a huge bite out of February's 15.8% jump, according to a preliminary estimate from the Census Bureau. The reading missed market expectations of 1.45m and remained close to December's 31-month low of 1.33m.

Still to come, February's housing price index will be published at 1400 BST, while March's new home sales and the Conference Board's April consumer confidence index will follow at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com