U.S. stock futures inched higher Tuesday, with markets retaining a recent rally on hopes U.S. jobs data later this week will feed into a growing view of an improving economy.
About two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 19 points higher at 10848. The S&P 500 futures advanced 2.8 points to 1171.6 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 5.75 points to 1966. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
U.S. stocks and commodities gained on Monday after a report of rising consumer spending, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each up between 0.4% and 0.6%.
Tuesday's economic calendar features the S&P/Case-Shiller on house prices in January and the Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence in March, as markets position ahead of Friday's report on nonfarm payrolls.
The dollar was little moved against the euro or the yen, though the British pound rose back above the $1.50 level.
Apple rose 1.8% in premarket trading on news that it plans to begin producing new iPhone this year on a different type of network called CDMA, which could allow U.S. phone carriers other than AT&T to sell the smart phone. CDMA is used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T's main competitor, as well as Sprint Nextel.
Verizon Communications rose 2.3% premarket.
Mining company Vale advanced 1.6% premarket after it declared the annual iron ore benchmark pricing system "over" and anointed a quarterly model in its place.
In Europe, Irish banks saw dramatic declines for a second day, with Allied Irish Banks losing a quarter of its value ahead of the Irish government's announcement on the stake they will take and the haircut they will demand for accepting risky loans.
But UBS rose on a report of strong fixed-income revenue during the first quarter.
Most Asian markets advanced, with the Nikkei 225 up 1% in Tokyo, while stocks in Europe made modest advances, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.2%.
