US pre-open: Futures higher following Monday's heavy losses

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Tuesday amid heightened oil prices and rising bond yields. As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.11%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.34% and 0.38% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 398.51 points lower on Monday as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note moved above 4% and hit its highest level since early August.

Tuesday's primary focus will likely be August's goods trade balance figures at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see a drop from -$78.8bn to -$70.6bn.

Also in focus, West Texas Intermediate was down 2.10% in pre-market trading at $75.52 per barrel, while Brent crude slipped 1.96% to $79.34 a barrel as investors continued to zero in on heightened tensions in the Middle East following Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon and Iran's resulting strike.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "US stock index futures are a touch firmer this morning, with markets steadying after Monday's sell-off. Some negative sentiment crept in yesterday which wiped out all of Friday's gains following an unexpectedly strong set of jobs numbers.

"There's little on the calendar today, just a few Fed speakers to note. But tomorrow sees the minutes from the last FOMC meeting in September, with the CPI and PPI on Thursday and Friday respectively. Then we round off the week with Q3 earnings from JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, amongst others."

Elsewhere on the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' September optimism index increased to 91.5 in September, missing forecasts for a print of 91.7 and marking the 33rd consecutive month below the 50-year average of 98.

Still to come, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Raphael Bostic and vice chair Philip Jefferson will deliver speeches at 1745 BST and 2330 BST, respectively.

In the corporate space, PepsiCo trimmed its full-year revenue guidance on the back of a disappointing North American trading performance.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com