(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures were mildly higher on Tuesday as investors awaited key economic data.
At 09:12 am ET,
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures climbed 2.90 points to 924.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 29 points to 8487.
Nasdaq Composite Index futures advanced 2.75 points to 1484.25.
Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller released its home price index Tuesday showing an 18.1% drop from April 2008. The 20-city home price index is now off almost 33% since its peak in the second quarter of 2006.
Late on Monday,
Apollo Group Inc. (
NYSE: APOL) reported that fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $201.1 million, or $1.26 a share, from $139.1 million, or 85 cents a share, in the prior year period. Revenue increased to $1.05 billion from $835.2 million.
H&R Block Inc. (
NYSE: HRB) said that its fourth-quarter net income jumped to $706.9 million, or $2.09 a share, from $543.6 million, or $1.66 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue slipped to $2.47 billion from $2.54 billion a year.
General Mills (
NYSE: GIS) announced late Monday that it is boosting its quarterly dividend rate by 9% or 4 cents a share to 47 cents per share.
Design software maker
Adobe Systems (
NASDAQ: ADBE) has shut its North American operations for the week as part of a cost-cutting effort. Adobe previously shut down for a week in April, and it will close North American operations for another week later in the year.
On the economic front,
Chicago PMI and
consumer confidence data are due for release later in the day.
US stocks finished higher on Monday after investors cheered a rally in energy stocks.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:54 pm London time, the UK FTSE slipped 4.61 points or 0.11% to 4289.42. The German DAX and French CAC dropped 0.14% and 0.24% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 174.97 points or 1.97% to end at 9,958.44. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong fell 149.78 points or 0.81% to 18,378.73.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
