U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as traders eyed a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping later in the trading week.
Tuesday saw trade deficit data for February, which showed the U.S. deficit narrowed more than expected to $43.56 billion. Economists expected it to have narrowed to $44.8 billion from a five-year high. These are not typical market-moving data, but market participants will keep an eye on them because of Trump's meeting with the Chinese premier.
Also on the data front, factory orders are scheduled at around 10 a.m ET.
On the earnings front, A Schulman is due to report after the market close.
Elsewhere, U.S. Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo is due to speak at Princeton on Tuesday on his penultimate day at the U.S. central bank.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx-600 index was around 0.13 percent lower on Tuesday morning. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite in China closed 0.39 percent higher, while the Nikkei in Japan closed 0.91 percent lower.
In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $53.57 a barrel on Tuesday, up 0.85 percent, while U.S. crude was around $50.57 a barrel, up 0.66 percent.
Oil prices dipped on Tuesday as investors eyed a seemingly relentless uptick in US drilling activity.
--- Fred Imbert contributed to this report