US Stock Futures Suggest Subdued Open; Earnings, Housing Data, Consumer Confidence In Focus

Effects of the tentative deal with Iran seem to have worn off for the most part on Tuesday as investors shift focus to housing data, earnings, and the short trading week ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.01 percent while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.05 percent while those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.04 percent.

Investors will closely watch housing permits data, which is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. EST. According to a statement from the Census Bureau, cited on the Wall Street Journal's data calendar, the bureau will delay the release of housing starts data, which had been rescheduled for Nov. 26 because of a lapse in federal funding and instead, housing permits data for September and October will be released on Tuesday.

"The lapse in federal funding affected the data collection schedule for the Survey of Construction, which is the source of data on new housing unit starts and housing unit completions. Accurate data collection for September and October could not be completed in time for the November 26 release. As a result, the December 18 release will include data on housing units started and completed in September, October and November 2013," the Census Bureau said in a statement.

Also to be watched on Tuesday is the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index for September at 9 a.m. EST, for a look at monthly changes in the value of residential real estate in 20 metropolitan regions across the U.S.

On the earnings calendar, we have retailers Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) and Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE:BKS) before market hours, while technology majors Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) are among those lined up to announce quarterly numbers after market hours.

In Europe, markets trended lower ahead of the release of housing data in the U.S. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.28 percent, while London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.38 percent, Germany’s DAX-30 was flat and France's CAC-40 was down 0.2 percent.

In Asia too, markets were mostly lower. Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.67 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.08 percent. In China, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.14 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was almost flat, down 0.01 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite index added 0.33 percent while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.87 percent.