US stock futures add to gains after home-price data
U.S. stock-index futures rose further on Tuesday after a report had home prices rising in January from a year earlier.
"Today's data focus will be on the housing market – singled out by the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) last week as a source of weakness," said Emily Nicol of Daiwa Capital Markets in a morning research note.
Consumer confidence for March will also be an important data point, and will be published at 10 a.m. Analysts at Barclays Research forecast the index will rise to 79.0, after a print of 78.1 in February.
"This would leave the index modestly above its current six-month average of 76.6," said Barclays' Ajay Rajadhyaksha and Dean Maki in a note.
Walt Disney shares gained in pre-market trading after the entertainment company agreed to purchase Maker Studios, one of YouTube's networks, for at least $500 million.
Walgreen on Tuesday reported quarterly profit below expectations, with shares of the drugstore chain rising in early New York trading.
The dollar edged higher against other global currencies and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 2 basis points to 2.752 percent.
Crude futures climbed 49 cents to $100.09 a barrel; gold futures for April delivery fell $3.00 to $1,308.20 an ounce.
Federal Reserve speeches on the economy and monetary policy will also be in focus. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser (voter, hawk) and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart (non-voter, dove) are scheduled to speak on Tuesday.
Plosser told CNBC on Tuesday that Fed members were "puzzled" by last week's market selloff when Chair Janet Yellen signaled the Fed could hike interest rates sooner than expected.
Global markets remain wary of the ongoing standoff between Russia and the Ukraine. In the Netherlands on Monday, the G-7 group of major industrialized nations agreed to suspend their participation in the G-8 (which includes Russia) until Russia "changes course".
"There is mounting geopolitical risk over Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea. That flash point has undermined investor confidence," said Matthew Kaufler, portfolio manager at Federated Investors.
(Track: European shares live)
—By CNBC's Katy Barnato