US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Economic Data

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, ahead of housing-price and consumer-confidence data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 16 points to 11,519.00, while those for the S&P 500 rose 2.50 points to 1,255.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 gained 3 points to 2,233.00. US stock markets closed mixed on Monday, with the Dow Industrials losing 18 points. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 index gained slightly. Economic data on Case-Shiller home prices for October will be released at 9 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer- confidence index for December will be released at 10 a.m. ET. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Alcatel Lucent ALU agreed to pay $137 million for settling charges that it paid bribes to foreign officials to secure business in Latin America and Asia. Shares of American International Group Inc AIG reached a 52-week high on Monday after the company obtained $4.3 billion in new credit lines. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.15%. Asian markets ended in the negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average losing 0.61%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.41% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.74%. Gold futures for February delivery gained $11.70 to $1,394.60 an ounce, while copper futures for March delivery rose to $4.280 per pound in New York. Crude-oil futures moved up $0.17 to $91.17 per barrel. The dollar dropped to a 3-week low versus the Japanese yen. The US dollar fell 0.5% to 82.21 yen. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.