Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday, despite Monday's strong U.S. economic reports, as investors eyed upcoming U.S. data to be released later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.17% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.22% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.20% loss.
On Monday, the National Association of Realtors said that U.S. existing home sales increased 4.9% to a seven-month high of 4.89 million units last month from 4.66 million in April. Analysts had expected existing home sales to rise 2.2% to 4.73 million units in May.
Separately, market research group Markit said that its preliminary U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to a four-year high of 57.5 this month from a final reading of 56.4 in May. Analysts had expected the index to ease down to 56.1 in June.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON) was likely to be in focus amid reports it is considering a takeover bid for Swiss agricultural firm Syngenta (SIX:SYNN).
MICROS Systems (NASDAQ:MCRS), up 0.38% in extended trade, was expected to remain in the spotlight for a second consecutive session after Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) offered to buy the maker of software for restaurants and hotels for $5.3 billion in cash.
In similar news, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) confirmed late Monday that it had agreed to buy Russian drug maker Veropharm.
Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) was also set to be active, after the cosmetics seller said it plans to cut 600 jobs in a bid to reduce costs and restore profitability. According to the company, the job cuts should save $50 million to $55 million a year before taxes.
Elsewhere, Gap (NYSE:GPS) was expected to move after announcing that employment applications at Gap and Old Navy chains have climbed by at least 10% from a year earlier. The news came in the wake of the retailer's plans in February to increase hourly wages to $10 by 2015.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Walgreen (NYSE:WAG), scheduled to release quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 eased 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.10%, Germany's DAX edged 0.08% lower, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.25%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.33%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.05%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release private sector data on consumer confidence, as well as a report on new home sales.