U.S. stock futures steady as data await Caterpill

U.S. stock futures steady as data await
Caterpillar in focus after 2015 earnings view cut
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-fut...beforebell
MADRID (MarketWatch)—U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady start for Wall Street on Tuesday, but some observers expect further gains when housing data are released shortly after the open. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc. could come under pressure after it trimmed its earnings view.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBOT JZ2) rose 4 points to 13,493, while those for Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GLC:SPZ2) rose 0.1 point to 1,451.40.

Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (CME:NDZ2) rose 2.75 points to 2,841.

Investors will get fresh news on the state of the U.S. economy, starting with the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index for July due at 9 a.m. Eastern time. At 10 a.m. Eastern, the Conference Board will release the consumer-confidence index for September, and at the same time, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will release the July home-price index.

Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, chief economist at FIH Erhvervsbank, expects U.S. stocks to move higher once the Case-Shiller data come out. “I think we’re going to see a very bullish housing market. I think the bottom was reached awhile ago. We’re not on a Ferrari-like recovery path, but still more like a Chevy pickup truck, [with] stable and continuing improvement,” he said.

Confidence data may also help, he said. “Consumer confidence will show U.S. improvement. I think we’re going to see a diverging path here. Europeans are still stuck in the mud because Spain won’t accept that they need to borrow money from someone else and the continuing drag from this,” said Blaabjerg. “The banking sector is in far worse shape than they realize. They will need help, a lot of money going forward.”