U.S. stock futures higher with eyes on earnings and Fed speakers

Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday as traders returned to their desks after the long weekend and focused their attention on blue-chip earnings and expectations of further input on the future path of rate hikes from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials.

The blue-chip Dow futures rose 56 points, or 0.27%, by 7:17AM ET (12:17GMT), the S&P 500 futures gained 4 points, or 0.19%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 14 points, or 0.26%.

On the earnings front, reports from Dow components boosted investor sentiment.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) jumped more than 2% in pre-market trade on Tuesday after the blue-chip home improvement retailer delivered better than expected top and bottom line numbers after a 5.8% increase in comparable sales.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) also saw shares rise more than 2% despite missing consensus on revenue. The world's largest retailer did report a 1.8% increase in comparable sales, beating expectations for a 1.3% rise, in what was its 10th consecutive quarter of growth.

Also in the retail sector, Macy’s (NYSE:M) will also be under watch with the department store chain already having racked up seven straight quarters of declining revenues and earnings.

On a light data day, Markit will be releasing its composite purchasing managers’ index (index), that combines preliminary estimates for activity in both the manufacturing and services sector, for February at 9:45AM ET (14:45GMT). The release comes ahead of the more widely followed ISM reports which will be out next week.

Investors awaited comments from a trio of Fed speakers later Tuesday for further indications on the likelihood of a March rate hike.

Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari is set to deliver comments at an event in Minnesota at 8:50AM ET (13:50GMT), Philly Fed chief Harker is due to speak about the economic outlook at the Wharton School of Business, in Pennsylvania at 12:00PM ET (17:00GMT), while San Francisco Fed president John Williams delivers a speech at Boise State University at 3:30PM ET (20:30GMT).

The dollar rose broadly on Tuesday after Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker and Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester both pointed to the potential for U.S. interest rates to rise next month.

Markets still remained unconvinced with odds for a rate hike in March at only about 18%, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, who believe the Fed won’t make their first move until September, suggested that there were only three key events between now and the March meeting for the central bank to give a clear signal on a hike.

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Meanwhile, oil prices jumped on Tuesday after OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo said he expects even more oil producers to join the production cut deal, according to Bloomberg.

U.S. crude futures gained 1.62% to $54.65 by 7:19AM ET (12:19GMT), while Brent oil traded up 1.50% to $57.02.

Elsewhere, European stocks were mostly higher as euro zone business activity hit nearly a 6-year high, though London’s FTSE was under pressure from the financial sector after HSBC (LON:HSBA) reported more than a 60% drop in profit.

Earlier, in Asia, markets ended the day largely higher, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up around 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei edged up about 0.7%.