Stock Futures Higher Despite Home Report

U.S. stock futures point to a higher open as investors shrug off a weak report on the housing market.
By Melinda Peer ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open Tuesday despite an unexpected dip in home prices as investors anticipated a stronger reading on December consumer confidence.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

were up by 14 points, or 25 points above fair value, at 11,517. Futures for the

S&P 500

were 2 points higher, or 3 points above fair value, at 1256, and

Nasdaq

futures were ahead by 3 points, or 4 points above fair value.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, which tracks changes in the value of residential real estate in major metropolitan areas in the U.S., fell 0.8% in October, disappointing expectations for an increase of 0.1%, according to

Briefing.com

. In September, the index rose 0.4%, which was downwardly revised from 0.6%.

Stocks ended Monday's session close to the flatline as global growth concerns spurred by China's decision to raise interest rates pressured stocks.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was closed for a holiday, and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.6%. The FTSE in London was also closed while the DAX in Frankfurt was up by 0.1%.

At 10 a.m., the Conference Board releases December consumer confidence data. Economists are projecting a reading of 56.1 compared with November's level of 54.1, according to

Briefing.com

.

Shares of

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold

(FCX) - Get Report

were up 0.8% to $119.58 ahead of Tuesday's opening bell a day after

the stock hit a 52-week high of $119.44.

Amazon's

(AMZN) - Get Report

Kindle e-reader became the best-selling product in the company's history although Amazon didn't release Kindle-specific sales figures. The online retailer did report that 13.7 million items were ordered through the site on Nov. 29.

Cisco's

(CSCO) - Get Report

stock continued to trade higher Tuesday following a

Barron's

report that

shares may rise as the company sees improved equipment demand and as it initiates a dividend. The stock was up 0.9% to $20.34 ahead of the opening bell.

In commodity markets, the February crude oil contract traded up by 40 cents to $91.40 a barrel. The February gold contract traded $20.90 higher at $1,403.80 an ounce.

The dollar weakened against a basket of currencies with the dollar index down by 0.5%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened 5/32, lifting the yield to 3.345%.

.

-- Written by Melinda Peer in New York

.

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.

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