U.S. stock index futures point to a slightly higher opening Tuesday ahead of the publication of the Census Bureau's durable goods orders and new home sales data.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.24 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.19 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.39 percent.

Durable goods orders, which measure the change in the total value of new orders for long lasting manufactured goods, are expected to increase by 3.8 percent in February after declining 4.9 percent in January. The core durable goods orders for February, which will exclude transportation items, are expected to gain 0.5 percent after increasing 2.3 percent in the previous month.

Investors are also expected to focus on the February new home sales data to be reported after the markets open Tuesday. The new home sales data, measuring the annualized number of new single family homes that were sold during the previous month, are expected to decline to 422,000 from 437,000 in January.

In addition, the Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for the month of March after the market opens. Economists are predicting that confidence may decline to 68.0 from 69.6 recorded in the previous month.

U.S. stocks closed lower Monday, as investors appeared worried over concerns whether Cyprus deal may become a blueprint for other euro zone economies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.44 percent to 14,447.75, the S&P 500 Index was down by 0.33 percent to 1,551.69 and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed 0.30 percent down at 3,235.30.

European markets edged higher in the opening minutes of trade but investors remained cautious on concerns that the Cyprus bailout model could set a precedent for other debt-strapped euro zone nations.

The London's FTSE 100 remained flat, while France's CAC-40 was up 0.3 percent. Germany's DAX gained 0.2 percent.

Most Asian markets ended lower earlier as the euro zone concerns over Cyprus bailout deal weighed on the investors sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei ended 0.6 percent lower to 12471.62 while China's Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.2 percent to 2297.67. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded nearly 0.27 percent higher to 22311.08 towards close. South Korean benchmark KOSPI gained 0.3 percent to close at 1983.70.

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