U.S. markets await March sales report, earnings from health care products maker.
April 13, 2004: 5:47 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The March retail sales report and earnings from Dow component Johnson & Johnson will give investors some guidance going into Tuesday's stock trading session.
Early Tuesday, futures pointed to a higher start for the major indexes.
Before trading begins, the government releases its retail sales report, with economists surveyed by Briefing.com expecting to see the same 0.7 percent gain that was posted in February. Excluding autos, sales are seen having risen 0.6 percent last month.
The morning's other economic report is business inventories for February, seen having grown 0.5 percent; they were up 0.1 percent in January.
Leading the earnings reports before the bell is Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: Research, Estimates), the drug and health products maker. Analysts surveyed by First Call expect to see first-quarter earnings of 80 cents a share, up from 69 cents a year earlier.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, J&J was nearly 1 percent higher.
After the close, No. 1 chip maker Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) posts its quarterly results. The company's earnings per share are seen having nearly doubled to 27 cents a share from 14 cents a year earlier.
The Dow Jones industrial average started the week with a 0.7 percent gain Monday on optimism about the first-quarter earnings reports coming in. The Nasdaq composite index was 0.6 percent higher.
Asian-Pacific stocks rallied Tuesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 0.7 percent to a 32-month high. European markets began their holiday-shortened week with early gains. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices slipped in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.24 percent from 4.23 percent late Monday. The dollar rose against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures rallied 24 cents to $33.43 a barrel in London, where gold was lower in early trading.
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