NEW YORK - U.S. stock futures are pointing to a lower opening Tuesday as investors around the world pause after a recent runup, hoping for more confirmation that an economic recovery is underway.

The decline in futures comes amid mostly lower overseas markets and after a three-week-long rally that catapulted the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index past the 1,000 mark on Monday for the first time since November.

Investors appeared little phased by the day's earnings and economic news and instead focused on locking in some profits following a 14 percent climb in stocks since July 13.

Futures were little moved by a Commerce Department report that showed consumer spending rose in June for the second straight month. Consumers increased their spending 0.4 percent, slightly more than anticipated. But the department said personal incomes, which fuel future spending, dropped by a bigger-than-expected 1.3 percent.

Among the day's earnings news, homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter loss shrank from the year-ago period, beating Wall Street's estimates. And a day after automakers reported improved U.S. auto sales for the month of July, Toyota posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and said it expects narrower losses for the full year.

Stock market investors have seen better-than-expected corporate earnings reports and encouraging outlooks this summer, as well as data showing improvements in the manufacturing and housing industries. Such promising signs have driven hopes that the nearly two-year-long recession is coming to an end, pushing stocks up to levels not seen since last fall.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 50, or 0.5 percent, to 9,198. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 6.70, or 0.7 percent, to 994, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 10.75, or 0.7 percent, to 1,616.

Despite the decline in futures Tuesday, analysts generally believe the market's near-term trajectory is upward, with investors seeing dips in stocks as an opportunity to put money to work, afraid of missing out on an extended rally.

"We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue," said Janet Engels, senior vice president and director of private client research group at RBC Wealth Management. "We also believe this market will be prone to pullbacks."

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.