Index futures advanced this morning, indicating gains -- hopefully they'll stick today. After spending nearly all of Monday's session higher, all three major U.S. indexes closed less than 0.1% lower.The European Central Bank continues to inject cash into its economy, compounding efforts by the Federal Reserve and other overseas central banks to reverse declining confidence in credit markets.
The Labor Department will report July's Producer Price Index an hour ahead of today's opening bell; July's PPI is expected to rise by 0.1%. The Census Bureau/Commerce Department's report on the international trade balance for June will also be released this morning.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) released second-quarter figures this morning, posting a 15% drop in profit over last year's second-quarter numbers. Check back at 9 a.m. as Michael Fowlkes liveblogs Home Depot's conference call.
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) also reported second-quarter earnings Tuesday, posting higher sales and profit but lowering expectations for the fiscal year.
Other companies reporting earnings Tuesday include retail parent TJX Co. Inc. (NYSE: TJX), chipmaking supplier Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), and Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A).
Overseas, the Nikkei and London's FTSE 100 crept modestly higher.
Company news
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) spinoff VMware (NYSE: VMW) will make its anticipated market debut Tuesday. Last night's offering of 33 million shares fetched $29 each from underwriters, raising $957 million.
Swiss bank UBS (NYSE: UBS) also reported cautious earnings, posting a 79% jump in second-quarter profit but forecasting lower earnings in the second half of the year.
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