Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately lower open on Tuesday, slightly recovering from the previous session's sharp losses as investors turned to first-quarter earnings reports, with Alcoa set to kick off the season after the closing bell.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.13% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% dip.
Investors remained cautious after last week’s U.S. payrolls report disappointed some market expectations for a stronger number.
Market participants were also eyeing Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting for further indications on the future direction of monetary policy.
The financial sector was set to be in focus, after Citigroup (NYSE:C) agreed to pay $1.13 billion to settle claims from mortgage-bond investors, in a move to curb liabilities tied to the financial crisis. It took a $100 million first-quarter charge.
Pharmaceutical group Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) was also likely to remain in focus after annoncing on Monday that its experimental breast cancer drug yielded positive results in a clinical trial, but researchers found overall survival to be statistically insignificant. Shares were up 0.29% in after-hour trade.
Elsewhere, Kellogg (NYSE:K) dipped 0.02% in extended trading amid speculation the cereal maker could be an acquisition target.
In the tech sector, Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK) said it received approval from Chinese authorities to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) without being asked to change its patent practices. Following the news, Microsoft shares added 0.10% in late trading, while Nokia surged 4.02%.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 edged down 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.19%, Germany's DAX fell 0.21%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.43%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.98%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.36%.