Futures Fall; Earnings, Economy in Focus

Stock futures fell ahead of the open Tuesday as investors waited for the next batch of earnings and key economic data.

While Monday's Wall Street gains could hardly be called overwhelming, many investors are looking at the session in a bullish light, given that stocks had been down for most of the session before finishing with those small gains. 

A 15-point gain for the Dow was enough to push it to its highest close since Nov. 5, while the S&P 500's nearly-three-point advance was enough to push it to its highest finish since November 4.

Other bullish notes as we head for the end of July: the Dow is on pace for its biggest monthly percentage gain since October 2002, generally considered to be the beginning of the last bull market.

As has been the case the past week or so, earnings will figure heavily into the market's direction. Among the companies set to report before the opening bell: Coach, Energizer, Interpublic, McGraw-Hill, Office Depot, Paccar, Smith International, Supervalu, Teva Pharmaceutical, Textron, Under Armour, Unisys, Viacom, Valero Energy, and U.S. Steel. 

After the bell, the market will hear from Hertz, McKesson, Norfolk Southern, Panera Bread, Western Digital, and XL Capital, among others.

Last night's most prominent after-the-bell report came from biotech giant Amgen, which beat estimates by reporting quarterly profit of $1.29 a share, and also making positive comments about revenue trends.

Economic reports today include the latest consumer confidence report from The Conference Board at 10 am New York time. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen will have a speech on the U.S. economic outlook in Idaho at 12:35 pm, and the Treasury will auction 2-year notes today with results expected shortly after 1 pm.

General Electric's GE Capital unit will update investors this morning in a Web cast that could have implications for the Dow Component and NBC Universal parent. GE Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin will lead the presentation, which begins at 8:30 am.

Investors will also get the latest read on home prices at 9 am, when the S&P/Case Shiller Index is released.

- Written by Peter Schacknow, senior producer, CNBC.com