Stocks poised for earnings boost

Click the chart for more premarket data. By CNNMoney staffApril 26, 2011: 7:48 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks were headed for slight gains at Tuesday’s open, as investors pored through another round of earnings reports, and awaited reports on housing and consumer confidence.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Early Tuesday, Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) reported its strongest first quarter in 13 years, posting earnings of 61 cents per share on $33.1 billion in revenue. Ford shares rose more than 4% in premarket trading.

3M (MMM, Fortune 500) shares rose 1% and Delta (DAL, Fortune 500)’s stock advanced 2%. Both companies beat the Street on earnings and revenue.

Seattle-based Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) is on tap to announce quarterly earnings after the closing bell.

Investors will also get another reading on the housing market, when the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index is released at 9 a.m. ET. Economists are expecting the report to show home prices fell 3.2% year-over-year in March — sparking fears of a double dip in the housing market.

That said, the latest data on both existing and new home sales, construction and permits have all come in better than expected over the last week, and is fueling optimism that home prices may not have dipped as deep as previously thought.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, helped by a modest boost in technology shares.

Economy: After the start of trading, the Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence index for April. Economists forecast the index to have edged up to 64.4, from 63.4 in March, showing consumers are slightly more optimistic about the economy.

Meanwhile, this week also brings Wednesday’s Federal Reserve press conference and Thursday’s report on U.S. economic growth.

“There’s some anxiety about Bernanke’s press conference tomorrow and the GDP numbers on Thursday,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “Towards the end of the day you may seem a little bit of nervousness in markets.”

World markets: European stocks rose in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, the DAX in Germany added 0.4% and France’s CAC 40 advanced about 0.3%.

Asian markets ended the session lower. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.9%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dipped 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen, but rose versus the British pound.

Oil for June delivery slipped 19 cents to $112.09 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery fell $4.20 to $1,504.90 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.37% from 3.36% late Monday.  

First Published: April 26, 2011: 6:20 AM ET