U.S. stock futures point to higher open

The U.S. Chicago PMI for March is due at 9:45 a.m. EDT with economists in a Reuters survey forecasting a reading of 34.5 in the month compared with 35.2 in February.

U.S. consumer confidence due out at 10 a.m. EDT is expected to have edged up in March from the record low hit in February. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 28.0 compared with 25.0 in February.

Bookseller Borders posts quarterly results. Analysts expect the company to earn 95 cents a share, excluding items, down from $1.44 a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.

No. 2 U.S. homebuilder Lennar Corp reports fiscal first-quarter results. Analysts, on average, expect a deeper net loss as the company scrambles to sell off inventory in the face of a prolonged U.S. recession. They expect the company to post a loss of 69 cents.

Shares in American Electric Power fell 4 percent in extended trade after the company cut its guidance to below Wall Street estimates and scaled back capital spending plans for next year.

The Wall Street Journal reported Google is expected to announce more detail about its highly anticipated venture-capital fund, including its plan to commit roughly $100 million to the endeavor in its first year, said people familiar with the matter.

Goldman Sachs banker Byron Trott, one of Warren Buffett's main deal makers, is leaving to start his own merchant-banking firm, according to people familiar with the matter, and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway plans to invest in the entity, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal said Eli Lilly & Co Chief Executive John Lechleiter said the drug maker is looking for acquisitions of as much as $15 billion now it has digested ImClone Systems.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday as two major U.S. automakers took a step closer to potential bankruptcy, and a spate of European bank rescues heightened concerns over the financial system's health, putting the brakes on a recent run-up.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 3.27 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 3.48 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.81 percent.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.5 percent on Tuesday, with banks and insurers down, but the mood was more optimistic in Europe, where the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.3 percent in a broad rally.

(Additional reporting Blaise Robinson)

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Dan Lalor)