Stock Futures Point To Higher Opening Tuesday

Futures on the major U.S. indices point to a higher opening Tuesday ahead of the May Treasury budget statement and Import Price Index.

Futures on the S&P 500 are up 0.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.7 percent. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 0.6 percent.

Investors are likely to focus on the May budget statement to be reported later Tuesday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The federal budget balance, which measures the difference between the government's income and expenditure, is expected to show an additional $125 billion increase in the deficit for May, bringing the total budget deficit to $845 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year 2012.

The Import Price Index, which measures the change in the price of imported goods and services purchased domestically, will also be reported Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Market sentiments will be affected as the early investor excitement on the bailout for Spanish banks subsides to revive concerns about the debt crisis looming over the euro zone.

On Monday, the U.S. markets were down as investor concerns about Spain's economic and financial stability rose again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.14 percent, the S&P 500 Index declined 1.26 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 1.70 percent.

Major European indices remained cautious as market sentiments were dampened following concerns that the bailout package for the Spanish banks would not be sufficient for the country to come out of the economic crisis. London's FTSE 100 marginally rose by 1.90 points, Germany's DAX 30 index gained 15.24 points and France's CAC 40 slightly moved up by 2.06 points.

Asian markets fell Tuesday following negative cues globally, which lowered investor sentiments. Asian stocks were dragged down as optimism relating to 100 billion euro ($125 billion) aid to Spanish banks was short-lived.