Stock futures slightly higher after data
A Wall St. sign is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange, February 6, 2012. Reuters

U.S. stock index futures rose, boosted by resurgent Asian and European markets, and pointed to a higher open on Tuesday when markets reopen after the Memorial Day holiday.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.65 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.70 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.91 percent.

Investors will also be looking to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for the month of May, which will be released after the opening bell, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict that the Consumer Confidence Index may increase to 71 in May from 68.1 in the previous month.

“The preliminary May U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey rose to the highest level in almost six years as rising home values, record stock prices, and lower gasoline prices boosted household wealth. We anticipate that the Consumer Confidence report will be impacted by these themes as well, as usual, we look closely at the labor-market related information in the report as an early indicator of May payroll gains,” a note from Credit Agricole said.

The S&P/Case-Shiller house price index for March also will be released before the market opens on Tuesday -- at 9:00 a.m. EDT. The index, which measures the change in the selling price of single-family homes in 20 metropolitan areas, is expected to show that house prices increased at an annual rate of 10.2 percent in March after gaining 9.3 percent in the previous month.

European stock markets were trading higher on Tuesday with the London FTSE 100 up 1.54 percent, Germany's DAX-30 gaining 1.20 percent and France's CAC-40 surging 1.42 percent.

Asian stocks markets advanced for the first time in six days as a weaker yen supported stocks of Japanese exporters. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.2 percent following sharp declines in recent sessions. China's Shanghai Composite gained 1.23 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.05 percent, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.49 percent.

U.S. stock markets ended on a mixed note on Friday despite better-than-expected reading on durable goods orders. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.06 percent, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.01 percent. Also, for the week, stocks reported losses for the first time in five weeks as the U.S. Federal Reserve's ambivalence about its future monetary policy and weak economic data from China weighed on the investor sentiment.

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