Stock Futures Gain Momentum

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were pointing to a modest rebound on Wall Street Tuesday, after data showed a small rise in the U.S. trade deficit and an improvement in small business confidence.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were rising 45 points, or 34.71 points above fair value, at 13,282. Futures for the S&P 500 were up more than 5 points, or 3.32 points above fair value, at 1432. Futures for the Nasdaq were up more than 9 points, 6.10 points above fair value, at 2794.

The major U.S. equity indices finished lower Monday as disappointing economic data from both at home and China prompted a mild bout of profit-taking ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week.

Tthe Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the U.S. trade deficit increased to $42 billion in July from a downwardly revised $41.9 billion in June. Economists expected the trade deficit to widen to $44 billion.

The National Federation of Independent Business' Small Business Optimism Index rose to 92.9 in August from 91.2 in July, up for the first time in four months, driven by a big increase in the job creation sub-index.

The FTSE in London was slipping 0.39% on Tuesday, while the DAX in Germany was up 0.01%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed up 0.15% and the Nikkei in Japan finished down 0.7%.

The most anticipated event this week remains the Fed's policy announcement on Thursday. Investors are bracing for a potential bond-buying program from the Fed, giving the S&P a strong catalyst to reach new multi-year highs.

Another highly awaited development will come from the German Constitutional Court's ruling on the legality of the permanent bailout fund Wednesday -- which will then be followed by a meeting of European finance ministers in Cyprus Friday for talks about banking supervision and possible extra aid for Spain and Greece.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was down 1/32 Tuesday, raising the yield to 1.662%. The greenback was falling 0.26%, according to the dollar index.

October crude oil futures were down 3 cents at $96.51 a barrel and December gold futures were rising $2.50 at $1,734.30 an ounce.

In corporate news, McDonald's (MCD) said global same-store sales gained 3.7% in August. The results missed expectations of an increase of 3.9% as the global economy continues to stall.

Zynga (ZNGA) disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that Jeff Karp, the chief revenue and marketing officer at the maker of social games, has resigned.

Texas Instruments (TXN), the chipmaker, is slated to give its mid-quarter update Tuesday.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), gives a presentation at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday to investors in New York at a conference organized by Barclays in New York.

Shuffle Master (SHFL), the Las Vegas gaming equipment supplier, on Monday missed Wall Street's earnings expectations for its fiscal third quarter.

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--Written by Andrea Tse in New York.



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