By Dan Strumpf
U.S. stock futures edged lower Tuesday as investors looked ahead to a flurry of economic data due later in the day.
Futures on the S&P 500 index fell three points, or 0.1%, to 2122 about 90 minutes before the opening bell. E-mini Dow futures lost six points to 18218. E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures fell five points, or 0.1%, to 4524.
The modest pullback comes ahead of a raft of economic reports due later in the day. A report on durable goods orders in April is expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with economists calling for a decline of 0.1%.
Other data on tap include a report on March homes prices, as well as data on April new home sales and May consumer confidence. Later in the week will bring an updated reading on first-quarter gross domestic product, expected to show a 0.1% decline.
"I think the second-quarter GDP is going to be a lot stronger," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. "We're going to have a lot of positive surprises, and I don't think earnings got the credit it really deserved."
Stocks edged lower on Friday, pulling back further from all-time highs reached early in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 18232.02, while the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 2126.06.
Friday marked the slowest day for stock trading all year, with just 4.9 billion shares trading hands. With the first-quarter earnings season largely over and the prospect of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve still likely months away, many investors say they see little need to shuffle their existing portfolios.
Following a spell of volatility in May, U.S. stocks are back in positive territory for the year. The Dow is up 2.3% for the year through Friday, while the S&P 500 is up 3.3%.
European markets were mixed. Germany's DAX fell 0.1%, while France's CAC 40 added 0.5%.
In commodity markets, gold futures fell 0.8% to $1194.60 an ounce. Crude-oil futures shed 0.7% to $59.30 a barrel.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.188% from 2.211% as prices rose.
Shares of Time Warner Cable Inc. jumped 8.1% in premarket trading after news that Charter Communications Inc. had struck a $55 billion cash-and-stock deal for the cable provider. Shares of Charter gained 4.3% premarket.
