US pre-open: Stocks seen higher as investors eye data releases

US stock futures pointed to a firmer open on Wall Street on Tuesday as investors eyed the latest batch of data releases.

At midday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: "Yesterday may have seen some weakness across major US indices, but given the strong start to the year that we have seen on Wall Street, there’s little cause for concern here.

"Futures are also suggesting that we’ll see something of a recovery on Tuesday, although with some notable economic releases - namely the durable goods order data for May and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence reading for June - both due for release, these could again deliver fresh direction.

"The Fed’s next steps in the second half of the year remain front of mind so should either of these prints point to a meaningful overshoot then this would add weight to calls from policy hawks for yet more tightening."

He added: "As an aside, JD Sports this morning noted softening consumer demand being seen in the North American market, something it said was a sector-wide issue. With that in mind, expect Nike’s earnings on Thursday and especially word on attempts to sell down inventory to be closely followed.

"Walgreens Boots are also slated to issue results before the opening bell in what could give another insight into consumer demand, but will likely also be left reflecting some tough comparatives."

Mahony called the Dow up 74 points at 33,789 and the S&P up 12 at 4,341.

On the corporate front, Circor surged 5.6% in pre-market trade after agreeing to be bought by KKR in a sweetened $1.7bn deal.

Elsewhere, Stratasys rose just over 3% after 3D Systems lifted its cash and share bid for the 3D printer company.