Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady open on Tuesday, as investors digested earnings and looked ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the session.
During early morning hours in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 13 points, or 0.08%, the S&P 500 futures added 2 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 10 points, or 0.22%.
Investors await the start of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's two-day testimony before Congress at 10:00AM Wednesday morning for further indications on the timing of a highly-anticipated interest rate hike.
On Friday, Yellen said the Fed anticipates raising interest rates later this year if the U.S. economy and labor markets continue to show improvement in the coming weeks.
U.S. data will also be in focus. The country will publish figures on industrial production and manufacturing activity in the New York region ahead of Wednesday's opening bell, as traders look for further indications on the strength of the economy and the timing of an interest rate hike.
Data on Tuesday showed a surprise fall in U.S. retail sales in June. Retail sales declined 0.3% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.2%, while core retail sales fell 0.1%, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% increase.
The disappointing data fueled concerns over the outlook for the economic recovery and tempered expectations for higher interest rates.
In earnings news, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the second largest U.S. bank, reported better than expected second quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, sending its shares 2.9% higher in pre-market trade.
Bank of America said it earned 45 cents per share in the three months ending June 30, above forecasts for earnings per share of 29 cents and up from 19 cents a share a year ago.
The bank’s second quarter revenue totaled $22.35 billion, missing estimates for revenue of $21.38 billion and improving from sales of $21.96 billion in the same period a year earlier.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) posted adjusted earnings of $4.96 a share in the second quarter, up from $4.89 a share a year earlier and beating expectations for earnings of $4.80. Revenue rose 4.7% from a year earlier to $2.91 billion.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL) are also due to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday.
Amongst the most active pre-market stocks, Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) shares jumped 5.8% after raising its 2015 earnings outlook to between $4.75 and $4.85 from a previous range of $4.60 to $4.75. The company also announced plans to acquire Receptos (NASDAQ:RCPT) for $7.2 billion. Receptos surged 10.5% on the news
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