By JONAH KERI, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 09:16 AM ET
The major indexes continued to trade slightly higher ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, as the Street took in economic reports.
S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq 100 futures all edged up in pre-market action.
The Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments fell 5.9% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 units. Inclement weather in the Northeast and Midwest contributed to the drop.
The decline was bigger than expected. But the level was slightly higher than the 570,000 economists had projected. That's because January starts were revised sharply higher to a pace of 622,000 units, the strongest result in 14 months.
The strength of the housing rebound is a key factor for Federal Reserve policymakers as they meet today. They're expected to offer some hints about future monetary policy at around 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
U.S. import prices slid 0.3% in February, a slightly bigger decline than expected. A drop in prices for crude oil and other petroleum products fueled the first decline since July.
Meanwhile, export prices dropped 0.5% in February, vs. expectations of a 0.3% gain. Agricultural exports and food, feeds and beverages tumbled 3.8%.
Barrick Gold (ABX) rose 2% in pre-market trade. The gold producer gained ground as the price of gold rose for the second straight day.
Sequenom (SQNM) plunged 18% ahead of the market's open. The biotechnology company posted a fourth-quarter loss excluding items of 30 cents a share, below analysts' projections.
Air Berlin said it's cancelling $1.7 billion in orders for new 787 planes from Boeing (BA). The German airline cut its Boeing 787 order to 15 from 25 planes. The airline also reduced its option on further Boeing aircraft to five from 10 and deferred nine 737 deliveries to 2015 from 2010 or 2011.
Shares of Air Berlin fell about 1.5% on Germany's DAX index. Boeing shares ticked up slightly on Wall Street.
On the Treasury market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose to 3.71% from 3.70% Monday.
