Wall St. to rise at open, data cuts futures' gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to rise at the open on Tuesday even as weaker-than-expected data cut gains in equity futures and as the Federal Reserve prepared to begin a two-day meeting on monetary policy.

Futures reduced gains after data showed new orders for capital goods by U.S. businesses had recorded their biggest drop in eight months in September. U.S. single-family home prices rose in August on a year-over-year basis but fell short of expectations.

"Durable goods disappointed, and that points to cautious consumers and also that capital spending seems to have been missing again," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

"Earnings have been on the positive side," he added. "Investors continue to concentrate in basic fundamentals."

S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 6 points and fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract, indicated a higher open. Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures <1YMc1> rose 46 points, and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures added 17 points.

The U.S. Federal Reserve later on Tuesday begins a two-day policy meeting, after which it is expected to reinforce expectations it will wait a long while before rising interest rates. The U.S. central bank is all but certain to announce the end of its massive bond-buying stimulus.

But Cardillo said he expected the Fed to keep the stimulus door open as long as deflation pressures continue.

Twitter shares fell 12.4 percent in premarket trading a day after it posted a slide in a closely watched measure of engagement even as its user base grew in the third quarter.

Madison Square Garden shares rose 9.8 percent the day after the owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers said it was mulling a plan to separate its entertainment business from its media and sports business.

Receptos Inc shares jumped 32.1 percent after the company said its experimental ulcerative colitis drug had met the main goal in a mid-stage trial.

U.S.-traded shares of Sanofi dropped 8.6 percent after the French drugmaker said sales growth at its leading business of diabetes treatments would stall next year.

A gauge of consumer confidence for October is due at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Lisa Von Ahn)

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