How is the housing market faring? New data Tuesday should provide some clues, and Wall Street is set to fall ahead of it.
At 8:30 a.m. ET the Commerce Department will release housing starts and permits for February. Economists in a Thomson Reuters survey forecast a 700,000 annualized rate in February versus 699,000 in January.
Investors will also monitor talks as Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti began a final push for a deal with unions to revamp labor laws aimed at creating jobs and underpinning wider reforms to aid the weak economy.
On Monday the S&P 500 advanced for a third straight session, moving within 10 percent of its historic closing high.
Jewelry chain Tiffany and Co early Tuesday forecast higher fiscal-year results, helped by expansion in Asia and the Americas and sales that so far are in line with its projections. Shares rose 2.2 percent to $70.20 premarket.
Adobe Systems Inc lost 4 percent to $33.13 in light premarket trade after the maker of the Photoshop and Acrobat software reported quarterly revenue growth slowed, missing forecasts.
Bank of America Corp shed 0.5 percent to $9.48 after the company said it won't issue additional equity in a secondary offering, contrary to rumors that may have lowered its stock price during Monday trading.
Walt Disney Co expects its science-fiction movie "John Carter" to lose about $200 million, leading its studio unit to post an operating loss of $80 million to $120 million in the fiscal second quarter.
European shares fell for a second day as investors took more profits after a rally to an 8-month high last week. Stronger U.S. housing data could give the market a boost.
Shares in Asia slipped, led by losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai on underwhelming corporate earnings.
Reuters contributed to this report.
