Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady open on Tuesday, after U.S. markets remained closed on Monday for President's Day, as investors eyed the release of U.S. manufacturing data later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.05% uptick, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.06% slip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.04% dip.
Markets were jittery after data on Friday showed that U.S. manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in January as inclement winter weather acted as a drag on growth.
The data fuelled concerns that the economic recovery has lost momentum since the end of last year as inclement winter weather weighed on growth.
The pharmaceutical sector was likely to be in focus, amid reports British generic-drug maker Actavis is close to an agreement to buy the U.S.'s Forest Laboratories for about USD25 billion. The news sent shares in Forest Laboratories up 2.26% in pre-market trade.
In similar news, Brightoil Petroleum Holdings was planning to buy oil and gas assets in China’s Bohai Bay from U.S. company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for USD1.08 billion in its biggest deal ever.
Meanwhile, Alcoa tumbled 1.32% in early trading after the aluminum producer said it will close its uneconomic Point Henry smelter in Australia and two rolling mills hurt by excess capacity for materials used to make cans.
Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported that Las Vegas Sands finally restored its websites to service after almost a week offline, following an attack by hackers who have not yet been identified.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Coca-Cola, scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 declined 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.47%, Germany's DAX edged down 0.15%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.01%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged 3.13%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on manufacturing activity in the Empire State.