Stock Futures Flat Amid Mixed Housing Data

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U.S. stock-index futures were in search of direction Tuesday as traders parsed through mixed data on the American housing market.

Today's Markets

As of 9:02 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 8 points, or 0.05%, to 16054, S&P 500 futures dipped 0.5 point, or 0.03%, to 1802 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1.3 points, or 0.04%, to 3430.

The housing market has been cited as a key component of the U.S. economic recovery. While the rebound has been patchy, the market had generally been improving at an increasing pace. However, concerns about when the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its vast bond-buying program caused interest rates to rise over the summer, putting pressure on the burgeoning rebound.

According to a S&P/Case Shiller report, home prices in 20 major U.S. cities rose 0.7% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in September, compared to estimates prices would at a slightly faster rate of 0.8%. Prices were up 13.3% year-over-year, the biggest increase since 2006.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said permits to construct new homes jumped 6.2% to an annual rate of 1.03 million units in October from the month prior, the highest reading since June 2008. Economists expected the number of permits to hit 930,000. The Commerce Department said housing starts for October will be released in December.

The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence -- due out at 10:00 a.m. ET -- is expected to have risen to 72.9 in November from 71.2 the month before. The gauge has added significance since the key holiday shopping season is about to kick off on Black Friday.

On the corporate front, Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) shares rallied after the jewelry retailer posted considerably stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is set to report after the closing bell.

In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 41 cents, or 0.44%, to $94.50 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.28% to $2.688 a gallon. In metals, gold ticked higher by $4.60, or 0.39%, to $1,246 a troy ounce.