Forexpros – U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as market participants looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s semi-annual testimony to the U.S. Congress later in the day for any hints regarding further easing measures.
Investors also awaited a slew of corporate earnings from heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs and Coca Cola later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.4% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.4% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.45% advance.
Market sentiment remained supported ahead of testimony to the Senate by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later Tuesday and Wednesday, amid ongoing speculation over whether the U.S. central bank will introduce more easing to stimulate the economy.
Expectations for another round of easing by the bank were boosted on Monday after official data showing a third consecutive monthly decline in U.S. retail sales in June.
The U.S. was to publish official data on consumer price inflation, as well as reports on the capacity utilization rate and industrial production later in the day.
Meanwhile, hopes for additional stimulus measures from China mounted after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said over the weekend that policy makers were likely to introduce measures to boost growth in the second half of the year
The comments followed government data released last week showing China’s second quarter economic growth slowed to a three-year low of 7.6%, compared to growth of 8.1% in the first quarter.
In earnings news, shares in Goldman Sachs were 0.5% higher in pre-market trade ahead of the release of its closely-watched second quarter earnings report.
Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola were also slated to release earnings before Tuesday’s opening bell, while Intel and Yahoo report after markets close.
Shares in Yahoo were also in focus after the company named Marissa Mayer, a former executive with Google, as chief executive officer. Shares were up 2.6% on the news.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.3%, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.3%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.4%.
Spain saw short-term borrowing costs fall at an auction of 12 and 18-month government bonds earlier, but the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds was at 6.87%, remaining close to the critical 7% threshold amid sustained concerns over the country’s finances.
Also Tuesday, data showed that German economic sentiment deteriorated for the third consecutive month in July, as concerns over the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis continued to weigh.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment fell to minus 19.6 in July from June’s reading of minus 16.9, but was slightly better than expectations for a decline to minus 20.0.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied 1.75%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4%.