Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday as investors took a breather after the S&P and Nasdaq closed at record highs a day earlier, eyed dollar weakness stemming from renewed concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s stimulus plans and looked ahead to data and earnings.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 30 points, or 0.14%, at 6:58AM ET (10:58GMT), the S&P 500 futures inched up 1 point, or 0.04%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures edged forward 5 points, or 0.09%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, weakened for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, amid reports that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia's foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation in a meeting last week.
The news added to concerns that Trump will be unable to successfully push through his economic stimulus program in the face of mounting controversies and markets ratcheted down their expectations for the first Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike to come in June.
According to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, Fed fund futures priced in around a 67% chance of an increase on Tuesday, compared to more than 80% last week.
Among economic reports out on Tuesday, April housing starts and building permits will be released at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT), followed by industrial production figures for the same month at 9:15AM ET (13:15GMT).
In company news, retailers may feel relief on Tuesday after dismal earnings last week from department store retailers like Macy's (NYSE:M) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), as shares in Home Depot (NYSE:HD) gained more than 1% in pre-market trade. The blue-chip home improvement retailer managed to beat consensus on both the top and bottom line.
Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) also traded almost 2% higher in the pre-market despite the fact that the office supply retailer saw a 2.6% decline in total comparable sales and revenue missed.
Also in retail, TJX (NYSE:TJX) was set to release earnings before the bell, while Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) will report its numbers after the close.
Oil futures were up on Tuesday, with prices headed closer to daily highs reached in the prior session, as news that Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend oil output cuts for a further nine months until March 2018 continued to boost sentiment.
Investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report at 4:30PM ET (20:30GMT) later on Tuesday.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.37% to $49.03 by 7:01AM ET (11:01GMT), while Brent oil rose 0.31% to $51.98.
Elsewhere, European equities traded mixed after a string of economic reports, with special note taken of the FTSE 100 that hit fresh record highs, passing above 7,500 points for the first time ever.
Earlier, Asian stocks climbed to a fresh-two year high on Tuesday on the back of closing gains on Wall Street.