Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.1 to 1.9 percent at 6 a.m. EST.

Macroeconomic news will be a focus, with U.S. ISM data for December and November construction spending both being released at 10 a.m. EST, while the FOMC releases minutes from its December 13 meeting on 2 p.m. EST.

Total signed a $2.3 billion joint venture deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp and EnerVest that will see the French company expand its position in the liquids-rich Utica Shale area of eastern Ohio.

BP has called on its contractor Halliburton to pay all costs and expenses the oil major incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a court filing by the British firm's lead trial attorney.

Starbucks Corp is raising prices in the U.S. Northeast and Sunbelt regions by an average of about 1 percent.

Jefferies & Co has upgraded American Eagle Outfitters and Ann Inc to buy and said due to a slow but ongoing consumer recovery, combined with normalized cotton costs U.S. specialty retail stocks could see better margins this year.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet small business lending index showed borrowing by small U.S. businesses hit its highest level in nearly four years in November and suggested the economy is gathering momentum.

European shares rose on Tuesday, led by mining stocks after better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data lifted hopes demand would be strong for metals.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> ended the year flat on Friday, the last trading day of 2011, while the Dow industrials <.DJI> gained 5.5 percent for the year and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> fell 1.8 percent.

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)