U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Tuesday as investors looked to upcoming housing and consumer confidence data for affirmation the economy was stabilizing.

Apple Inc is said to be developing a CDMA-compatible iPhone that would work on leading U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Communications Inc's network, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Verizon shares were up 4.4 percent in premarket trade at $31.79 while Apple shares gained 2.1 percent to $237.18.

Tuesday's economic diary includes the January S&P/Case-Shiller index, due at 9:00 a.m., and March Consumer confidence data, due at 10:00 a.m. S&P/Case-Shiller's 20-city home price index is forecast dip 0.2 percent in January from December, according to a Reuters poll, and a separate report on March consumer confidence is expected to show a monthly rise to 50.0 from 46.0.

Key labor market data is due Friday, with a U.S. Labor Department report expected to show the economy created about 190,000 jobs in March, but investors will have to be brave enough to bet ahead of the data release since the U.S. stock market will be closed for the Good Friday holiday.

S&P 500 futures rose 2 points and were in line with fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 12 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.75 points.

Wall Street ended higher on Monday as miners and energy companies advanced on weakness in the U.S. dollar and investors bought recent high fliers as the quarter's end approached.

The Dow is up 4.5 percent for the quarter so far, down from gains of 7.4 percent in previous quarter, while the Nasdaq is on track for a 6 percent gain this quarter versus an increase of 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, reeling from a recall crisis, launched a task force aimed at regaining consumer trust and pledged to give more clout to its regional operations to speed up decisions on quality issues.

Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and CVC have teamed up to bid for Interactive Data Corp , yet another private equity team formed in recent weeks as an auction for the financial market data provider progresses, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Boston Scientific Corp , which pulled its implantable heart defibrillators from the U.S. market two weeks ago, indicated on Monday it could be another two weeks before it could begin selling them again.

McDonald's Corp expects to have more than 2,000 stores in mainland China by the end of 2013 and predicted a good first quarter for same-store sales in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, the region's president, Tim Fenton, told Reuters on Tuesday.

U.S. drug maker Eli Lilly said it plans to launch 15 new products in China in the next five years.

Oil was steady above $82 a barrel after hitting the highest level in almost two weeks a day earlier.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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