Stocks futures are showing little movement on Tuesday, as traders await pending home sales data, set to be released shortly after the opening bell. The major index futures are currently mixed, with the Dow futures down by a point.
Pending home sales data for November from the National Association of Realtors is likely to guide trading, with the report on tap for 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the leading indicator of activity in the housing market to decline 2 percent after a 3.7 percent increase in the previous month.
The markets will also be presented with the factory orders report for November from the Commerce Department half an hour into trading. Economists expect that factory orders rose 0.5 percent during the month following a 0.6 percent increase in October.
In corporate news, Google (GOOG) is likely to be in focus as it is expected to introduce its own mobile phone unit for use with its Android operating system.
Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to buy mobile ad company Quattro Wireless for $275 million, according to media reports. The deal comes after Google announced plans in November to buy AdMob, another mobile ad provider, for $750 million.
Both Quattro and AdMob focus on in-application and other types of mobile ads, which are displayed on smartphones like the iPhone and those that run Google's Android operating system.
Outside of the tech sector, Kraft Foods (KFT), which is trying to acquire British chocolate maker Cadbury (CBY), said it agreed to sell the assets of its North American pizza business to Nestle for a total consideration of $3.7 billion.
The firm said that it would use an amount equivalent to the net proceeds from the sale to increase the cash portion of its offer for Cadbury.
Stocks rose by notable margins to open the new year on Monday amid some general economic optimism and better-than-expected news from the manufacturing sector. The major averages rallied to their best closing levels in fifteen months.
The Dow advanced by 156 points 10,584, the Nasdaq advanced 39 points to 2,308 and the S&P 500 rose by 18 points to 1,133.
Crude oil futures have moved higher, rising by $0.29 to $81.80 a barrel after surging by $2.15 to $81.51 a barrel on Monday. Gold futures, which advanced by $22.10 in the previous session to $1,118.30 an ounce, are currently up by $8.00 at $1,126.30 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is mixed against the major European currencies, drifting down to $1.4434 against the euro and rising to $1.6034 versus the pound. The buck is down against the Japanese yen, trading at 91.78 yen.
In overseas trading, nearly all of the stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed higher on Tuesday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 2.1 percent.
The major European markets are modestly higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.1 percent.
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