Futures Dip After Trade Data Slightly Disappoint

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U.S. stock-index futures slipped into negative territory after data showed the American trade deficit narrowed to a slightly higher level than expected.

Today's Markets

As of 8:39 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 17 points, or 0.1%, to 16428, S&P 500 futures slumped 2.3 points, or 0.11%, to 1874 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 3.8 points, or 0.12%, to 3587.

After a somewhat choppy day, Tuesday was off to a quiet start. The Dow and S&P 500 are both within roughly three tenths of one percent of their all-time closing highs as they recover from a turbulent April.

The pace of mergers and acquisitions in the health-care space continues heating up. Merck (NYSE:MRK) said it will sell its consumer care unit to German Bayer for $14.2 billion. This comes as Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is pursuing a $106 billion buyout of AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Valeant (NYSE:VRX) is attempting to buy botox-maker Allergan (NYSE:AGN).

Elsewhere in corporate news, insurance giant American International Group (NYSE:AIG) saw its shares slump after posting a 27% drop in first-quarter profits.

On the economic front, traders will get a look at U.S. international trade at 8:30 a.m. ET. The trade deficit is forecast to have narrowed to $40.3 billion in March from $42.3 billion the month prior. While the data are a lagging indictor, they figure directly into broader economic calculations.

U.S. crude oil futures rose by a penny, or 0.01%, to $99.49 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline advanced 0.2% to $2.916 a gallon. Gold slipped $1.20, or 0.1%, to $1,308 a troy ounce.