Futures rise ahead of manufacturing data

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures gained on Tuesday ahead of the release of manufacturing data as investors looked for fresh signs of domestic demand in the world’s largest economy amid softening global growth.

The ISM’s purchasing managers index (PMI) data, due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), is likely to show the manufacturing sector rebounded to 50.1 in September after contracting for the first time in 3-1/2 years to 49.1 in August.

It comes on the heels of euro zone data, which showed manufacturing activity in the bloc contracted at its steepest rate in almost seven years.

Despite a prolonged U.S.-China trade war, which poses the biggest risk to global growth, confidence in the domestic economy is one of the factors that has helped the benchmark S&P 500 () climb 18.7% so far this year.

A crucial jobs report on Friday is expected to shed further light on U.S. economic growth. The Federal Reserve is also looking at these data to determine whether it should cut interest rates again this year.

At 7:06 a.m. ET, were up 51 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.19% and were up 20.75 points, or 0.27%.

Philip Morris International Inc (N:) gained 1.8% in premarket trading after reports that Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:) upgraded the cigarette maker’s stock to “buy” from “neutral.”

As the final quarter of 2019 kicks off, investors will be focusing on a range of factors, beginning with the high-stakes Sino-U.S. trade talks in early October, corporate earnings and the Fed’s next policy meeting.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Tuesday he expected the Fed funds rate to increase slightly over the next few years as the U.S. economy grew and inflation accelerated.

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