US Stock Futures Suggest Another Mixed Open While Year-End Trend Hints At Yet Another Rally; Stocks Could Grow By 6%-8% In 2014 But Correction Cannot Be Ruled Out

While stock futures point to a mixed start on the last trading day of 2013, exuberance at the end of an extremely successful year could possibly push stocks higher during Tuesday’s session.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.04 percent and futures on the S&P 500 were up 0.07 percent while those on the Nasdaq 100 were down 0.13 percent.

"You do have some optimism in terms of the investment landscape for equities heading into 2014, but there are some macro events early on in the year that people will need to heed," said Dane Leone, an equity strategist at Macquarie in New York, according to a Nasdaq market report.

The Dow Jones has climbed in nine of the past 11 sessions for a nearly 26 percent gain this year, making 2013 the index’s best annual showing since 1996. The S&P 500, meanwhile, has rallied 29.1 percent this year for its biggest gain since 1997, the Nasdaq report noted.

However, it will not be a surprise if the new year brings along some market correction with it, Bob Landry, executive director and portfolio manager at USAA Investments, told MarketWatch, adding that any positive movements in 2014 would be unlikely to match those seen this year.

Ron Florance, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, told Nasdaq that stocks could appreciate at a more normal pace -- between 6 percent to 8 percent -- in 2014.

On the data front, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for October is due at 9 a.m. EST. The Chicago PMI for December is due at 9:45 a.m. EST and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for December is scheduled for 10 a.m. EST.

In Europe, markets were mostly up with the Stoxx Europe 600 index trading up 0.25 percent while the FTSE 100 was up 0.38 percent and France's CAC-40 was up 0.24 percent. Germany’s DAX-30, which was closed on Tuesday, ended the year up more than 25 percent for its biggest annual point gain since the end of 1999, MarketWatch reported.

In Asia too, markets were mostly up. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.09 percent but the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.88 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.27 percent. India’s BSE Sensex ended the day up 0.13 percent. Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi were closed on Tuesday. The Nikkei was Asia's best performing index in 2013, shooting up 56.7 percent for its best year since 1972, according to MarketWatch.