Investing.com - U.S. stock market futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday, one day after suffering its worst daily loss since June, as investors looked ahead to U.S. economic data later in the day to gauge the strength of the economy.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, S&P 500 futures signaled a rise of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a decline of 0.1%.
Wall Street suffered heavy losses on Monday after the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing index fell to a seven-month low in January, as new orders slumped.
The data sparked concerns over the outlook for the recovery, ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report for January, after December’s report showed that the economy added far fewer jobs than expected.
Investors looked ahead to data on U.S. factory orders later in the day, as well as speeches from Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans.
Yum Brands saw shares rally 4.2% in pre-market trade after the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings after Monday’s closing bell.
Other stocks that will likely see active trading include, CME Group, Archer Daniels Midland and Gilead Science, which are all expected to release quarterly earnings later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower, as concerns the global economic recovery is faltering dampened demand for riskier assets.
The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.55%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.2%, Germany's DAX slumped 1%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched down 0.4%.
Asian stock markets fell sharply on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunging 4.2% to hit a three-month low as the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar.
Markets in Hong Kong reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday with the Hang Seng Index losing 2.8%. The Hang Seng is down over 10% since hitting a recent peak, placing the index in technical correction territory.