U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a sligthly lower open on the Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of factory orders data and minutes of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet.
Mini Dow industrial average futures retreated 35.00 points to 13,154.00. The Nasdaq Futures inched 0.75 points higher to 2,777.75. Standard and Poor's 500 futures edged 2.80 points lower to 1,409.80.
On the U.S. economic front, at 10 am ET the Commerce Department will release its report on factory goods orders for February. Economists expect a 1.5 percent advance in orders after a 1 percent fall in the prior month. Durable goods orders, which constitute the majority of factory goods, gained 2.2 percent in February.
The focus will also be on the FOMC meeting due later in the day.
On the corporate front, automakers will be releasing their sales results for March. Economists expect domestic vehicle sales to drop to 14.7 million from 15.1 million in the prior month.
On Monday, U.S. stocks ended on a positive note on the first trading day of the second quarter, paring early losses, as better-than-forecast manufacturing data offset a weak European factory activity report.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (CVI, TAP, NFLX, GM, F)
Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP) agreed to acquire Amsterdam-based StarBev for around $3.54 billion from CVC Capital Partners to expand its European presence. TAP shares closed at $45.66 on Monday.
CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI) advanced 5.88 percent to $28.80 in premarket. Activist investor Carl Icahn said around 55 percent of the petroleum refiner's outstanding shares were tendered to his $2.3 billion offer. Icahn holds 14.5 percent of CVI.
Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) retreated 2.74 percent to $110.85 in premarket. Barclays Capital downgraded the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight", citing competitive pressures.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) will be in spotlight ahead of their monthly sales report.
Global Markets:
The European markets traded lower, with Germany's DAX losing 0.26 percent to trade at 7,038.60. France's CAC40 fell 0.62 percent to trade at 3,441.48. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.27 percent to trade at 5,859.25.
Asia markets finished on a mixed note. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 1.31 percent to close at 20,790.98. Japan's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.59 percent to end at 10,050.39. India's BSE Sensex finished at 17,597.42, up 0.68 percent. The Chinese market was closed for a three-day public holiday.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil declined 0.69 percent to $104.50 per barrel. Gold dropped 0.30 percent to $1,674.6 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro fell 0.08 percent against the U.S. dollar at 1.3310, while the British pound declined 0.27 percent against the greenback to 1.5980. The dollar rose 0.11 percent against the Japanese yen to 82.1600.