Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.08 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.02 percent at 0921 GMT (4:21 a.m. ET).

Shares in Borders Group Inc will be in the spotlight after the company, which has been seeking financing to fight credit woes, said late on Monday that two top executives resigned, sending its shares falling 8 percent after-hours. Borders shares traded in Frankfurt were down 4.2 percent.

Japanese stocks led Asian equities higher on Tuesday, and oil prices hovered near a 27-month high, as investors bet the improving U.S. recovery may be reflected in monthly jobs data later in the week.

European stocks were up 0.7 percent in morning trade, with oil major BP hitting a six-month high, up 4.9 percent, after The Daily Mail newspaper reported rival Royal Dutch Shell had considered a takeover bid during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The dollar edged broadly higher on Tuesday, with the yen on the back foot after upbeat U.S. data suggested the world's biggest economy will accelerate in 2011.

Miners will be in focus as floodwaters eased in Australia's major coal mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated.

General Motors said on Tuesday it sold 2.35 million vehicles in China in 2010, up 28.8 percent from a year earlier.

Economic data on tap on Tuesday includes factory orders for November, while Federal Reserve issues minutes from its meeting of December 14.

Investors will also keep a close eye on monthly auto sales figures. Fifteen economists surveyed by Reuters forecast December auto sales of about 12.3 million on the annualized and seasonally adjusted basis tracked by the industry.

U.S. stocks greeted the new year with a rally on Monday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 93.24 points, or 0.81 percent, to 11,670.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 14.23 points, or 1.13 percent, to 1,271.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 38.65 points, or 1.46 percent, to 2,691.52.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)

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