Futures dip before home prices data

Although the primary focus remains on second-quarter earnings, investors are eager to see if economic data will provide further evidence of a U.S. economy recovery to justify a further run-up in stocks.

The benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> has rallied 45 percent from the 12-year closing low of March 9 as investor bet on an economic rebound.

Standard & Poor's releases its S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for May at 9 a.m. EST. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a decrease of 0.5 percent versus a 0.6 percent all in April.

The Conference Board releases July consumer confidence, 10 a.m. EST. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 49.0 compared with 49.3 in June.

S&P 500 futures were 4.10 points lower and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures shed 29 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 5 points.

Bank of America Corp shares dropped 1.5 percent to $12.90 before the bell after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. bank was planning to cut its 6,100-branch network by about 10 percent. The newspaper cited the bank's chief executive Kenneth Lewis as telling investors.

General Electric holds its second big investor briefing of the year on its GE Capital finance arm. Wall Street is on the watch for more details on how the restructuring is going.

China Unicom <0762.HK>, one of China's top three mobile carriers, has reached a preliminary agreement with Apple for the exclusive sale of its iPhone handset in China for three years, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday, however a China Unicom official said a formal deal had not been reached.

Among companies reporting results today Viacom Inc reported a steep fall in quarterly earnings, hit by poor advertising revenue and a dropoff in sales of its "Rock Band" video game.

Office Depot Inc , the No. 2 U.S. office supply retailer, reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as the recession hurt demand from corporate customers

U.S. stocks rose slightly on Monday in a late rally as investors rotated into financial shares, which had lagged in the recent two-week run-up.

(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

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