U.S. stock futures are broadly higher in pre-market trading for Tuesday, May 24. The Dow Futures are up 43.00 points to 17,513.0. The S&P 500 Futures are up 6.00 points to 2,051.25. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4,366.75 for a gain of 14.25 points. The Russell Futures are showing a gain of 4.70 points at 1,113.1.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, stocks in Asia were mostly lower on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei was lower at 16,498.76 for a loss of -155.84 points or -0.94 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite was lower at 2,821.67 for a loss of -21.98 points or -0.77 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained at 19,830.43 for a gain of 21.40 points or 0.11 percent. The S&P BSE Sensex was higher at 25,305.47 for a gain of 75.11 points or 0.30 percent and the NSE Nifty Index was also higher at 7,748.85 for a gain of 17.80 points or 0.23 percent. The Asia Dow was lower at 2,561.58 for a loss of -20.40 points or -0.79 percent.

In Europe, stocks were mostly higher with a positive GDP report from Germany giving stocks a boost for the day. The FTSE 100 was higher at 6,172.42 for a gain of 35.99 points or 0.59 percent. The FTSE 250 was higher at 17,032.87 for a gain of 1.13 points or 0.01 percent. Germany’s DAX was higher at 9,922.39 for a gain of 80.10 points or 0.81 percent. France’s CAC 40 was up at 4,379.90 for a gain of 54.80 points or 1.27 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was higher at 340.34 for a gain of 3.65 points or 1.08 percent. The Europe Dow was higher at 1,533.79 for a gain of 15.95 points or 1.05 percent.

Tuesday’s Factors and Events

Tuesday’s economic reports include new home sales and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index. New home sales are expected to be reported at 523,000 SAAR. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index will be reported at 10:00 AM EST and economists are hoping for an increased reading from the previous month’s 14.

In the pre-market, stocks actively trading include Xilinx Inc., Micron Technology, Johnson Controls, Equity Residential, Mylan and Wal-Mart.

Best Buy, AutoZone and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will be among the key stocks to watch on Tuesday as all three will be reporting earnings. Best Buy and AutoZone report before the bell while Hewlett Packard Enterprise will report after the closing bell.

Beverage companies Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller will also be closely watched on Tuesday as the European Commission is due to release a report on the merger of the two companies.

Monday’s Activity

On Monday, stocks were lower as investors considered the market’s future outlook and few catalysts existed in trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 8.01 points or 0.05 percent to close at 17,492.93. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was also down, closing at 2,048.04 for a loss of 4.28 points or 0.21 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4,765.78 for a loss of 3.78 points or 0.08 percent.

Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

In small-cap indexes, the Russell 2000 was lower closing at 1,111.37 for a loss of -0.91 points or -0.08 percent and the S&P 600 closed at 679.49 for a loss of -1.40 points or -0.21 percent. Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1,446.44 for a loss of -3.67 points or -0.25 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1,205.67 for a loss of -2.41 points or -0.20 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 578.04 for a loss of -1.85 points or -0.32 percent.