Futures Extend Global Rally; Wall Street Looks to Reverse Slump

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U.S. stock-index futures zoomed higher on Tuesday as traders were greeted with a global rally after Memorial Day weekend.

Today's Markets 

As of 8:11 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rallied 115 points to 15422, S&P 500 futures climbed 13.5 points to 1664 and Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 27.5 points to 3020.

The markets snapped a four-week winning streak last week, posting mild losses amid concerns about when the Federal Reserve will begin paring back its massive bond-buying program. However, the mood across global trading desks was considerably rosier as traders in the U.S. returned from the long weekend.

Benchmark stock-market indexes in the UK, Germany and France all jumped more than 1% on the back of remarks from key European Central Bank officials suggesting the central bank would consider cutting interest rates further if the 17-member currency bloc's economy continues deteriorating. Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda also made remarks suggesting the BoJ is likely to shrug off rising government bond rates and continue its super-aggressive monetary policy.

Traders will get two key reports on the U.S. economy on the day as well.

The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed home prices rose 1.4% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in March, compared with the 0.7% gain economists were expecting. Prices are up 10.9% from the same month a year ago. Home prices have started rebounding after collapsing when the bubble burst five years ago.

Data due at 10:00 a.m. ET from the Conference Board are forecast to indicate consumer confidence having ticked up in May from April. The gauge is seen climbing to 71 from 68.1.

In commodities, oil and gasoline prices were sharply higher. The benchmark U.S. crude oil contract rallied 96 cents, or 1%, to $95.09 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline jumped 1% to $2.868 a gallon. Gold slipped $8.40, or 0.61%, to $1,379 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 jumped 1.4% to 2834, the English FTSE 100 rallied 1.6% to 6762 and the German DAX zipped higher by 1.2% to 8483.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 1.2% to 14312 and the Chinese Hang Seng climbed 1.1% to 22924.