Fed Stimulus Hopes Lift US Stock Futures

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher opening Tuesday as investors were optimistic that the Federal Reserve will announce monetary easing measures to rejuvenate the economy and regain the growth momentum.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.28 percent, futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index were up 0.13 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 index were up 0.22 percent.

Market players feel that the present economic situation is so weak that it would prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve into providing more policy stimulus, such as a third round of asset purchases (QE3). Market participants sense that bold measures, including easing in the monetary policy, will give a much-needed thrust to boost liquidity in the U.S. financial system.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will report Tuesday the Employment Cost Index, which measures the change in the price businesses and the government pay for civilian labor. It is expected to rise by 0.5 percent in the second quarter, up from 0.4 percent in the first quarter.

Investors are also likely to focus on the domestic personal spending, as detailed by the Commerce Department's Personal Income and Outlays report, which is expected from the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis Tuesday. Personal spending, which measures the change in the inflation adjusted value of all spending by consumers, is expected to show a rise of 0.1 percent in June, up from zero percent in May.

On Monday, the U.S. markets marginally fell as investors remained watchful waiting for the Fed to announce stimulus measures to recover the economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02 percent, the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.05 percent.

Major European indices fell as investors maintained a watchful mode while waiting for the European Central bank to announce stimulus measures to boost the faltering economy in the euro zone. London's FTSE 100 was down 11.98 points, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 5.91 points and France's CAC 40 dropped 21.06 points.

Asian stocks also rose following confidence that the central banks in Europe and the U.S. will declare the stimulus steps much needed to provide the support to the global economy.