US markets primed to advance as oil continues to drop

US stock index futures were higher on Tuesday, indicating a modest rebound from the previous session’s broad decline, which was the S&P 500’s weakest day in a month.

Energy shares will be in focus as crude oil continues its recent volatility. US crude futures fell 1 per cent to $68.29 per barrel. While the commodity jumped on Monday, that followed a plummet of more than 10 per cent last week, a decline that took it to multi-year lows.

Declines in energy shares have corresponded with the weakness in oil, which is down more than 30 per cent from a recent high. The S&P 500 energy index is the weakest industry group by far this year, and the only one to be negative for 2014.

Apple edged slightly lower in premarket trading. The tech giant lost 3.2 per cent on Monday, dropping in its biggest one-day drop since September. The stock, the biggest US company by market cap, was hit by unusual trading activity shortly after the market opened on Monday, tumbling in the span of a minute in what some traders deemed a "mini-flash crash."

In the latest deal news, Cypress Semiconductor Corp agreed to buy Spansion Inc in an all-stock deal valued at about $4 billion. Separately, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd said it would buy Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $3.5 billion. Cypress rose 14 per cent to $11.92 in premarket trading while Spansion was up 21 per cent at $27.55. Avanir added 13.5 per cent to $17.03.

Investors are looking ahead to a read on October construction spending, which is seen rising by 0.6 percent. Markets may be vulnerable to a weak read, which would follow tepid reports on manufacturing on Monday and could prompt traders to take profits.

Despite Monday’s decline, equities have been strong of late and continue to hover near record levels. Major indexes closed out a sixth straight week of gains last week.

Reuters