Stock index futures rose on Tuesday before data on new home sales, which is expected to show a decline in May.

Lennar Corp., the No. 2 U.S. home builder, reported a quarterly loss and forecast another loss for the third quarter. Lennar said it continues to see weak and perhaps deteriorating market conditions for the remainder of 2007.

Shares of Lennar traded in Frankfurt fell 2.5 percent.

Blue-chip stocks were plagued by worries U.S. banks may be more exposed to troubles in the subprime mortgage sector than originally thought. The Commerce Department data on home sales is due at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists on average expect sales to slip to 925,000 at annual rate from 981,000 at annual rate the previous month.

Today the market will really key off the housing number, and people will be hoping it holds up, said Peter Dunay, investment strategist for Leeb Capital Management New York. Given what Lennar said, people may have to contend with the fact that housing may be weaker than currently estimated.

S&P 500 futures were up 1.9 points, above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 14 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3 points.

On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.21 points, or 0.06 percent, to 13,352.05. The S&P fell 4.82 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,497.74, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 11.88 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,577.08.

Sportswear maker Nike Inc. and Oracle Corp, the world's largest database software maker, were due to report quarterly earnings later on Tuesday.

A June reading of consumer confidence will be released at the same time as the new home sales data. Consumer confidence likely dipped to 105.5 from 108 this month, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Reuters.

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