Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. economic reports later in the day, although concerns over ongoing tensions in Ukraine continued to weigh.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.18% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.15% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.19% increase.
Investors remained cautious after pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk formally asked the Moscow to annex the region like it did with Crimea.
AT&T (NYSE:T) was expected to be active, as the telecom company was said to be in advanced talks to acquire DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV), the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, for about $50 billion. AT&T shares were down 0.11% in after-hour trade.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), down 0.41% in early trading, was also likely to remain in the spotlight, as Chief Executive Officer Ian Read began trying to pursuade U.K. lawmakers on Tuesday that his company’s offer for Astrazeneca (LONDON:AZN) is good for the British economy.
In the tech sector, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) dropped 0.54% in extended trading, after the smartphone maker launched a low-cost touchscreen device in Jakarta, the Z3, in a move to revive sales in emerging markets like Indonesia.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw shares slip 0.21% after-hours, following reports two of its former sales directors were charged with insider trading, allegedly making $230,000 in profit from trades in Atheros Communications Inc. when Qualcomm bought the company in 2011.
In earnings news, Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ:RDEN) posted a surprise first-quarter loss late Monday and said that sales slid 20%, sending shares diving 16.64% pre-market.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) and Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ:TTWO) Interactive, scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 inched up 0.02%, France’s CAC 40 edged 0.06% higher, Germany's DAX climbed 0.47%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.02%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.41%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.95%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on retail sales, as well as reports on import prices and business inventories.