Premarket trading was fairly quiet Tuesday morning as investors wait for further earnings results to influence their buy-and-sell decisions.
U.S. stock futures edged lower, with the S&P 500 index down 0.3%.
Firms including AOL, DirecTV and T-Mobile US are scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell. Tesla Motors and 21st Century Fox are up in the afternoon.
On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management will release its latest monthly reading on the health of the services industry at 10 a.m. ET.
U.S. stocks finished slightly higher Monday. Major U.S. indexes are trading near all-time highs, supported by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s historic stimulus program, which is pumping billions of dollars into the financial system each month. This has also given a boost to stock markets around the world.
European markets moved lower in morning trading as investors digested the European Commission’s latest economic forecast. A surprise fall in inflation last month has cast fresh shadows over the health of the European economy.
Asian markets ended with mixed results. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4%.
