U.S. Stocks Set For Positive Start

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are likely to extend the gains of the previous session, as futures point to a slightly higher opening Tuesday morning amid rising commodity prices. Caution is likely to the keyword, as the markets look forward to some important economic reports to gain better visibility into the economy's course amid the lingering uncertainty.

As of 6.30 am ET, the Dow Futures were up 22 points, the S&P Futures were up 3.10 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 4.00 points.

Monday, stocks ended in positive territory despite lackluster trading, characterized by low volume. Investors preferred to stay away from the market ahead of the release of key economic data during the truncated week.

The Dow closed up 90.99 points or 1.1% at 8,529, the Nasdaq closed up 5.84 points or 0.3% at 1,844, and the S&P rose 8.33 points or 0.9% to 927.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which tracks monthly changes in the value of residential real estate in 20 metropolitan regions across the U.S., will be released shortly before the markets open. Economists expect an 18.75% year-over-year decline in the 20-city composite house price index for April.

At about 10 am, the business barometer index of the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago 'and the Consumer Confidence report of the Conference Board are due to be released. Economists expect the business barometer index for June to come in at 38.5 and the consumer confidence index for the month to show a modest improvement to 55.1.

Also impacting trading during the day will be a speech by St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President at the Global Interdependence Center. After the markets close, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Hoenig and San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen are scheduled to give speeches on 'bankruptcy and the economic crisis' and 'the economy', respectively.

Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), said Monday that a federal jury has awarded it $1.67 billion in a patent infringement suit against Abbott Laboratories (ABT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) related to Centocor's anti-tumor necrosis factor, or anti-TNFs class, of arthritis treatments.

Chip maker Broadcom Corp. (BRCM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced that it raised its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Emulex Corp., (ELX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) from $9.25 to $11.00 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of about $912 million. Emulex Corp. said that its Board of Directors would review the terms of the revised tender offer from Broadcom and urged its stockholders not to tender any shares into the revised offer pending the Board's recommendation.

The Major markets in Europe are trading flat, oscillating in a narrow range around the unchanged line, as buoyancy surrounding the rise in commodity prices is mitigated by profit taking by cautious traders. Additionally, economic reports from the region weren't inspiring enough to support an advance.

The final first quarter U.K. GDP report showed that the U.K. economy contracted at a worse than previously estimated rate, while Eurostat reported that the euro area's inflation turned negative for the first time since the formation of the Bloc in June. Meanwhile, Germany's Federal Labor Agency said that the nation's jobless rate increased slightly in June.

Crude futures are advancing further and are currently at $71.70 a barrel after rising 3.4% in the New York session on Monday, as supply concerns continued to lent support to prices.

On the currency front, the U.S dollar is losing ground against the Euro and other major currencies following a rally in the stock markets.

The Asian markets ended mixed on the last trading day of the second quarter. While the Australian and Japanese market ended higher, propped up by commodity stocks, the Hong Kong, Indian and the Chinese markets closed in negative terrain. The Shanghai Composite Index ended lower on profit taking following four straight sessions of advances.

Consumer spending in Japan unexpectedly rose in May, propped up by stimulus measures, while jobless rate in Japan rate climbed to an almost 6-year high, two separate reports from Japan showed today.

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