After showing a lack of direction over the course of the previous session, stocks may continue to experience choppy trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by just 5 points.
With the markets scheduled for an early close, trading activity is likely to remain subdued as some traders look to get a head start on the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday.
A relatively light day on the economic front may also keep traders on the sidelines, although the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its monthly report on factory orders at 10 am ET.
Economists expect orders for manufactured goods to edge up by 0.1 percent in May following a 0.6 percent decrease in April.
While a preliminary report showed that durable goods orders jumped by 1.1 percent in May, the increase in expected to be partly offset by a drop in orders for non-durable goods.
The report is not likely to attract much attention, however, with traders looking ahead to the monthly jobs report as well as monetary policy announcements from Europe.
Among individual stocks, shares of Microsoft (MSFT) may be in focus after the software giant announced that it will take a $6.2 billion charge for the impairment of goodwill in its Online Services Division segment, mostly related to its 2007 acquisition of aQuantive.
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