|
 * Last week, investors were surprised at central bank minutes that
opened the door to a rate hike as soon as June. Investors will
listen for fresh clues to the Fed's intentions when Chair Janet
Yellen speaks on Friday.
* Wall Street ended lower on Monday as a bounce in Apple failed to
offset concerns that the Fed could raise interest rates sooner than
later.
* Investors will be keeping an eye on economic data. New home sales,
as measured by the U.S. Commerce Department, are expected to have
increased 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000
units in April. The data is expected at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).
* The central bank has said it remains data dependent. A
strengthening labor market and with inflation creeping toward the
Fed's 2 percent target rate, traders are now pricing in a 30 percent
chance of a June hike, up from 4 percent last week.
* Low borrowing costs have helped the stock market enact a
spectacular bull run since the 2008 financial crisis. Still, the S&P
500 has gone an entire year without registering a new high.
* Oil fell for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday on rising
production from major exporters and as the dollar strengthened.
[O/R]
* Shares of Toll Brothers were up 3.3 percent at $28 in premarket
trading as the company's quarterly revenue beat expectations.
* Best Buy was down 6.2 percent at $31 after the consumer
electronics retailer's quarterly revenue declined for the third
straight quarter.
[to top of second column] |
Futures snapshot at 7:03 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.35 percent, with 135,936 contracts
traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 16 points, or 0.37 percent, on volume of 17,255
contracts.
* Dow e-minis were up 52 points, or 0.3 percent, with 22,621 contracts changing
hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
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