U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS

-Dow Industrial futures up 59 points.

-S&P 500 futures up 3 points.

-Nasdaq 100 futures up 12 points.

-Nasdaq-100 Pre-Market Indicator up 8.54 at 1573.43.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei up 0.2%

Hang Seng up 0.4%

FTSE-100 up 0.5%

PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH

(+) Large cap tech: mostly higher

(+,-) Chip stocks: mixed

(+,-) Small cap stocks: mixed

(+,-) Drug stocks: mixed

(+,-) Software stocks: mixed

(+,-) Internet stocks: mixed

(+) Financial stocks: firmer

(+) Auto stocks: firmer

(-,+) Airline stocks: mixed

(+) Retail stocks: firmer

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) HD (+3.4%) beats with results.

(+) TGT (+5.7%) beats with earnings, misses with revenue.

(+) SKS (+2.8%) beats with results.

(+) AXP (+1.6%) gets analyst upgrade.

(+) GS (+1.4%) gets analyst upgrade.

(+) HBC (+2.2%) gets analyst upgrade.

(+) PRGO (+3.8%) beats with Q4 results.

(+) SVA (+12.4%) reports positive results for H1N1 vaccine.

(+) AFN (+27%) swings to Q2 profit.

(+) OCLS (+9%) says would cleanser to be available in US.

(+) NVAX (+11%) reports positive H1N1 vaccine results.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) RPRX (-19.5%) down on bankruptcy speculation.

(-) GFG (-17.5%) as company says it likely can't continue even with bid extension from regulators.

(-) GERN (-13.6%) says IND for spinal cord injury placed on clinical hold by FDA.

MARKET DIRECTION

U.S. stocks look to join their overseas counterparts in recouping at least a portion of Monday's sharp drop. European data helped set the early tone. German financial professionals grew more optimistic in August, with the ZEW economic expectations index rising more than expected to 56.1 from 39.5 in July. Economists had expected a jump to 47.3.

U.S. futures remain firmer though are off pre-market highs following mixed housing and inflation data issued stateside.

U.S. housing starts were flat in July, not quite the improvement that Wall Street econmists expected. But single-family permits continued to rise for a fourth straight month.

Separately, July PPI fell 0.9% vs the Street's view for a 1% drop. Core PPI, excluding food and energy, fell 0.1%, not the 0.1% gain that economists predicted.

Crude futures had gained throughout the pre-market but did turn narrowly lower after the economic data hit.