U.S. futures rise ahead of factory orders; Dow Jones up 0.41%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as markets awaited the release of U.S. factory orders later in the day, while investors shrugged off disappointing euro zone economic reports.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.41% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.43% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.62% increase.

In the euro zone, official data showed that the unemployment rate rose to an all-time high of 12% in February compared with an original estimate of 11.9% for January, which was revised up to 12%.

A separate report showed that the euro zone’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 46.8 in March, from a final reading of 46.6 the previous month, still substantially below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Financial stocks were expected to be active, following reports Goldman Sachs registered a fund that invests in risky credit products as a publicly traded business development company, in order to avoid some regulations that would otherwise limit its activity.

Shares in the U.S. lenders inched up 0.01% in after-hour trade.

Energy-linked stocks were also likely to be in focus, after Chevron completed repairs to a central crude distillation unit at its San Francisco Bay-area refinery in Richmond, California, almost eight months after a massive fire struck the core of the plant.

The news sent Chevron shares up 0.16% in late trading.

Among insurers, Humana surged 11.64% in pre-market trade after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it was getting rid of a planned rate reduction.

Instead insurers will receive a 3.3% increase in the rate that determines the payments they get for running the government’s Medicare Advantage plans.

Elsewhere, Apple shares slipped 0.21% pre-market, after CEO Tim Cook apologized for the company’s iPhone warranty and repair policies in China. The tech giant had received criticism from state-run media over customer service in its second-largest market.

Facebook was also slated to be in focus, following reports the social media giant's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is scheduled to be questioned in a lawsuit alleging that seven technology companies broke antitrust laws by agreeing to not recruit from each other.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.16%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.18%, Germany's DAX gained 1.17%, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 1.01%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.31%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.08%.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a government report on factory orders.