US Stock Futures Signal Higher Open At Beginning Of Fresh Quarter; Data On Factory Sector, Construction Spending To Be Watched

As markets prepare to usher in the new quarter, investors are expected to look to auto sales numbers and the ISM manufacturing survey for clues about the health of the nation's economy.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.18 percent while futures on the S&P 500 were up 0.16 percent and those on the Nasdaq were up 0.08 percent. On Monday, the last day of the previous quarter, the Dow rose 0.82 percent while the S&P 500 climbed 0.79 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.04 percent.

Data on Markit's purchasing managers' index, or PMI, for March is due at 9:45 a.m. EDT while ISM's manufacturing survey for March and construction spending numbers for February are due at 10 a.m.

In Europe, markets were up with the Stoxx Europe 600 index trading up 0.43 percent while the FTSE 100 was up 0.48 percent. Germany’s DAX-30 was up 0.52 percent while France's CAC-40 rose 0.72 percent.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei-225 slipped to end the day down 0.24 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.34 percent while the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.32 percent and India’s BSE Sensex was trading up 0.28 percent.