Futures flat ahead of Trump's address to Congress

[February 28, 2017]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were flat on Tuesday but hovered near all-time highs as investors awaited President Donald Trump's speech for details on his agenda for the economy.

Trump will make his first address to Congress at 9:00 p.m. ET (0200 GMT) and is expected to speak about tax reforms, defense spending and his plans to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system.

In a meeting with state governors on Monday, Trump said he sees "big" infrastructure spending and was seeking to boost military spending by more than 9 percent.

Increased infrastructure spending, which will benefit industrial companies, is one of the reasons for Wall Street's rapid rise since the November elections.

Trump's comments helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> mark its 12 straight record close on Monday, a feat not seen since 1987.

Markets could be influenced by a clutch of data including the second estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product, which likely rose 2.1 percent. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Consumer confidence in February is estimated to have edged down to 111.0 from 111.8 in January, a report at 10:00 a.m. ET will likely show.

Investors will also watch a host of Federal Reserve officials, including Philadelphia Fed President and policy voting member Patrick Harker, speak during the day for clues on the possibility of a March interest rate hike.

Leaf Group CEO Sean Moriarty and Chairman of the Board James Quandt walk on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Among stocks, Target plunged 12.74 percent to $58.60 in premarket trading after the big-box retailer warned sales could continue to decline this year.

Valeant rose 4.4 percent to $17.45 following quarterly revenue and profit that beat analysts' average estimates.

Perrigo dropped 12.2 percent to $74.35 after the drugmaker said it would delay filing its annual report.

Futures snapshot at 7:07 a.m. ET:

Dow e-minis  were up 1 point, or 0 percent, with 14,752 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis  were down 1 point, or 0.04 percent, with 98,237 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 0.75 points, or 0.01 percent, on volume of 14,677 contracts.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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