U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday, indicating the S&P 500 may rebound from sharp losses in the prior session, but gains were muted after a Spanish bill auction met with falling demand.
Stocks fell on Monday to put the S&P 500 near break-even for June, as investors saw little reason to be optimistic about a European Union summit this week.
S&P 500 futures rose 1.2 points and were slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 35 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 10.5 points.
The Canadian dollar opened at 97.48 cents US, up 0.32 of a cent from Monday's close.
The euro was worth $1.2815, down 0.41 of a cent.
In equity markets the STOXX 600 index of large companies across the European region snapped a three day losing streak to gain 0.1 per cent to 243.05 points while the FTSEurofirst 300 index also rose 0.14 per cent at 987.78 points.
Spain's short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled at auction when the country sold 3.08 billion euros of its short-term debt, as the Treasury paid the highest rates to sell the paper since November.
Finance chiefs of the euro zone's four biggest economies will hold last-minute talks in Paris on Tuesday evening to discuss managing the crisis in the short term and proposals for closer long-term fiscal and banking integration in preparation for the summit later in the week.
“There is increasing pessimism as to whether any degree of substantive action will be agreed at the summit,” said Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC. “The most encouraging thing is that no one has any expectations, but that’s as good as it can get.”
According to a document prepared for the meeting, European leaders will discuss specific steps toward a cross-border banking union, closer fiscal integration and the possibility of a debt redemption fund.
U.S. economic data on tap includes S&P/Case Shiller Home Price indexes for April, at 9 a.m. ET. Economists in a Reuters survey expect the seasonally adjusted 20-city index to rise 0.4 per cent versus a 0.1 per cent increase in the previous month.
At 10 a.m. ET, the Conference Board releases its June consumer confidence report. Economists in a Reuters survey expect the main index to read 63.5 compared with 64.9 in May.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is thinking of splitting into two companies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Asian shares fell as investors remained skeptical that the EU summit would yield any substantive measures to solve the region's protracted debt crisis, now in its third year.
With files from The Canadian Press
