Before the bell: Futures higher as Dubai concerns fade, gold hits record

Overseas, stocks and commodities continued to rebound. In Asia, major benchmarks rose by 1%, with Tokyo's Nikkei index ending with a 2.4% gain, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 1.3% higher. Markets got a boost also from China after it said its manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace in five years. And from Japan came the news that the central bank decided to further ease monetary policy. In Europe, market also rose sharply with British, French and German stock indexes up more than 1.5% in morning trading.

It wasn't just stocks -- gold hit record highs near $1,200 an ounce on Tuesday as dollar weakness fueled gold buying as an alternative asset. Spot gold hit a peak of $1,198.70 an ounce and was bid at $1,194.90 an ounce earlier this morning, compared to $1,179.10 late in New York on Monday. The dollar index fell 0.5% and oil prices rose to near $78 a barrel Tuesday as the dollar weakness and tensions with Iran escalated.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., several economic indicators are due out today. At 10:00 a.m. Eastern, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for November will be released. Economists expect the index to tick down to 55% from 55.7% last month, according Briefing.com. At the same time, October construction spending and pending home sales will also be reported, both are expected to have fallen. Also, throughout the day, car manufacturers will release auto and truck sale for November.

Finally, the GE-Comcast, NBC Universal deal. General Electric (GE) is close to clearing a major hurdle in its path to sell control of entertainment giant NBC Universal to Comcast (CMCSA). GE has reached a tentative deal to buy Vivendi SA's 20% stake in NBC Universal for $5.8 billion.