Stock futures tick up ahead of data

[March 24, 2015]  By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Tuesday ahead of a data deluge including measures on inflation, home prices and sales, and factory activity.

* Manufacturing activity in China dipped to an 11-month low in March as new orders shrank while business activity in the euro zone accelerated much faster than thought, separate surveys showed.

* U.S. data on consumer inflation for February is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) followed 30 minutes later by a measure of home prices for January. Shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street, Markit's preliminary gauge of factory activity this month is due.

* New home sales for February and regional measures on the economy from the Richmond Federal Reserve and the Cleveland Fed are expected later in the day.

* Volume in futures contracts was relatively low in early trading. Major indexes were little changed on Monday with focus on moves in the dollar and oil prices, as traders gauge their effect on U.S. corporate earnings.

* Whiting Petroleum Corp fell 13 percent in premarket trading after North Dakota's largest oil producer announced an offering of 35 million shares and a $1.75 billion mix of notes and convertible notes to help cut its near $6 billion debt load.

Futures snapshot at 7:22 a.m. EDT (1122 GMT):

* S&P 500 e-minis  were up 4.5 points, or 0.21 percent, with 97,544 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 9.25 points, or 0.21 percent, in volume of 17,957 contracts.

* Dow e-minis  were up 47 points, or 0.26 percent, with 16,902 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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