Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday though gains were limited by caution over a suspected terrorist attack in the U.K., while market players looked ahead to economic reports set for release stateside.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 40 points, or 0.19%, at 6:54AM ET (10:54GMT), the S&P 500 futures advanced 3 points, or 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 9 points, or 0.16%.
Global equities showed mixed signs on Tuesday, as investors reacted to the news of a deadly suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
U.K. police said that the perpetrator was a man acting alone, who died at the scene after detonating an improvised explosive device that killed at least 22 people, including children, and injured more than 50.
The impact in markets was most felt in the pound with sterling trading lower against the yen, euro and dollar.
The attack came just two-and-a-half weeks before an election that British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to win easily, although polls showing that the contest was tightening added to sterling's woes.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, hovered near six month lows on Tuesday, having given up all the gains it had made following the election in November amid ongoing political uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration.
European stocks across the continent moved higher in cautious trade Tuesday as market players analyzed the developments surrounding the suspected terrorist attack, with Germany's DAX rising 0.5% in early-afternoon trade, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.2%.
Among economic reports out in the U.S. on Tuesday, flash readings on the manufacturing and services sectors in May will be released at 9:45AM ET (13:45GMT). Shortly afterwards, new home sales are expected at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).
With the first quarter reporting season largely past, 472 of the companies in the S&P 500 had already reported as of Monday, Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) and AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) will be reporting ahead of the opening bell.
Meanwhile, oil prices were lower on Tuesday, after rising to the strongest level in around a month in the prior session on growing expectations that OPEC members will extend supply cuts for a prolonged period when they meet on Thursday.
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 fell 0.76% to $50.74 by 6:59AM ET (10:59GMT), while Brent oil lost 0.74% to $53.47.