US pre-open: Futures point to small gains following brutal losses in previous session

As of 1220 GMT, Dow futures were up 0.44%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.25% and 0.95% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 2,997.10 points lower on Monday, giving back all of Friday's gains and recording its third-worst day ever after the President said the US "may be" moving headfirst into a recession.

Although futures hit "limit up" overnight, they dropped to a more measured level as the morning progressed as investors continued to try to weigh up the uncertain economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak

The upward moves came after Donald Trump tweeted: "The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!"

Trump also warned that the crisis could stretch as far as August, noting that the White House could potentially be looking at locking down "certain areas".

4,281 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the US, leading to more than 70 deaths.

SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell said: "The Dow Jones is currently pencilling in a 350 points-plus rebound after the bell, though that looks like it too is dwindling.

"Compared to Monday's gargantuan losses that's not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg; however, the Dow tends to save its big swings for a bit later on, so who knows where it will end up."

On the macro front, US advance retail sales figures for February will be published at 1230 GMT, while industrial production and business inventories figures will be posted at 1315 GMT and 1400 GMT, respectively.

In corporate news, Designer Brands will release its latest quarterly earnings report on Tuesday.