U.S. futures rise ahead of ISM report; Dow Jones up 0.49%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. non manufacturing activity data, although political uncertainty in the euro zone weighed on investor confidence.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.49% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.50% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.44% gain.

Fresh political uncertainty in Spain and Italy revived fears over the debt crisis in the region, pushing peripheral borrowing costs higher.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faced calls to step down following allegations of corruption against him and senior officials in the ruling Popular Party, while uncertainty over the outcome of upcoming Italian elections mounted as former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gained ground in opinion polls.

Tech stocks were expected to be active, after IBM said it is aiming to take on competitors such as Oracle and Hewlett Packard by offering a more affordable Power Systems server and storage product range later this month.

Separately, Dell's board was reportedly planning to meet Monday night to vote on an offer to take the company private for about USD24 billion. Dell shares jumped 1.13% in pre-market trade.

Social media giant Facebook was also likely to be in focus, amid reports it is developing a smartphone application that will track the location of users. Shares in the company were up 0.47% in early trading.

In the financial sector, Wells Fargo eased 0.03% in after-hour trade after Bloomberg reported that the U.S. lender is planning to target Persian Gulf sovereign wealth funds to expand its client base in the Middle East.

Elsewhere, Yum! Brands also trended lower in late trading, plunging 6.79%, after saying profit this year will be less than it previously expected as a probe into its chicken suppliers hurt sales in China.

Other stocks in focus included Kellogg, Automatic Data, Delphi Automotive and Estee Lauder, all due to report earnings before the open of the U.S. trading session.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.02%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.05%, Germany's DAX added 0.21%, while Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.62%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plummeted 1.9%.

Later in the day, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to publish a report on service sector activity.