Market tone: Stock futures mostly flat; euro slightly higher against the dollar; Nymex crude futures up 36 cents at $100.04 a barrel.
Overnight action: Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores; ING axes sale plan for Belgian insurance unit.
Watch for: Consumer-confidence data.
MARKET SNAP:
Dow futures are down 3 points at 12214; S&P futures are flat at 1260.4, while Nasdaq futures are up 3.25 points at 2281.75. London’s FTSE 100 is closed for a holiday. Frankfurt’s DAX is up 0.4% at 5903.42 and Paris’s CAC-40 Index is up 0.5% at 3117.37. Chinese shares fell to a fresh 33-month low, leading declines across Asia. The Nikkei dropped 0.5% to 8440.56. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
Stocks to Watch
Sears Holdings Corp. on Tuesday said it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores and take fourth-quarter charges of $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion while reporting quarter-to-date comparable sales fell 5.2%.
Residential real estate prices dropped more than forecast in the year ended October, showing a broad-based decline that indicates the housing market continues to be weighed down by foreclosures.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities dropped 3.4 percent from October 2010 after decreasing 3.5 percent in the year ended September, the New York-based group said today. The median forecast of 27 economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected a 3.2 percent decrease.
European stocks traded mostly flat in thin post-holiday trading on Tuesday, with Germany providing a spark after upbeat comments from an official.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP -0.08% was flat at 241.66. The index closed last week up 3.5% amid optimism over upbeat U.S. data, which took the focus off the sovereign-debt crisis. London markets remained closed on Tuesday.
10:00 Consumer Confidence
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
10:00 State Street Investor Confidence Index
10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook