Futures Pointing To Slightly Higher Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks may look to extend their recent upward trend during trading on Tuesday following the strength seen in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 11 points.

Early buying interest may be generated by the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rose by much more than expected in the month of November.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 3.5 percent in November following a revised 0.7 percent decrease in October. Economists had expected orders to increase by about 2.0 percent.

Excluding an 8.4 percent jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 1.2 percent in November compared to economist estimates for a 0.7 percent increase.

The Commerce Department is schedule to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of November at 10 am ET. Economists expect new home sales to climb to an annual rate of 450,000.

New home sales jumped 25.4 percent to an annual rate of 444,000 in October after sliding 6.6 percent to 354,000 in September.

Nonetheless, trading activity is likely to be subdued, as the markets are scheduled to close at 1 pm ET. The Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday is also likely to keep traders away from their desks.