Wall Street set to open lower as dollar rises

(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on Tuesday after the dollar jumped to a one-month high on data showing that U.S. business investment spending plans increased solidly for a second straight month in April.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday that the central bank could raise interest rates this year if the economy keeps improving as expected.

The dollar was hovering at an eight-year high against the yen and a one-month peak against a basket of other big currencies <.DXY>.

"It isn't normal to see such large moves in currencies," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

"Such moves heightens volatility in the market."

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 1.0 percent last month, a hopeful sign for manufacturing activity after a recent long spell of weakness.

Investors will be keeping a keen eye on data through the day for signs that the economy is recovering after hitting a soft patch in the first quarter.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 6.75 points and their fair value ? a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract ? indicated a lower open.

Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures <1YMc1> were down 41 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were off 14.25 points.

The Conference Board releases its index of consumer attitudes, which is expected to show consumer spending fell slightly in May from April. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

New home sales data at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) is expected to show sales increased to an adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units in April from 481,000 units in March.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas is expected at 9:45 a.m. ET.

Charter Communications' shares were up 0.6 percent to $176.36 in premarket trading after it agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $55.8 billion. Time Warner Cable rose 5.4 percent to $180.39, well below Charter's cash and stock offer of $195.71.

Ctrip.com gained 4.3 percent to $88.27 after Priceline said it will invest an additional $250 million in the Chinese online travel company. Priceline was down 0.8 percent at $1,198.35.

LivePerson shares were up 13.7 percent at $10.16 after an Israeli website reported software provider Nice Systems was in talks to acquire the chat software firm. Nice was down 2.7 percent at $63.30.

(Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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