By Yashaswini Swamynathan
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as oil prices steadied after touching a six-month high.
* Oil prices were off about 0.2 percent after rallying nearly 3
percent to a shade below $50 as supply disruptions in Nigeria and
positive outlook from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) boosted risk appetite. [O/R]
* Wall Street closed up 1 percent on Monday, also boosted by a jump in Apple's (O:AAPL) shares. Apple was up 0.7 percent at $94.55 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
* Investors will look out for data scheduled to be released at 8:30
a.m. ET (1230 GMT). U.S. consumer prices likely rose 0.3 percent in
April, after rising 0.1 percent in March. Housing starts likely rose to
1.1 million units in April.
* Industrial production is expected to have rebounded by 0.3 percent
in April from a 0.6 percent fall in March. The data is expected at 9:15
a.m. ET.
* Investors are closely watching data to assess when the Federal
Reserve will raise interest rates. While some Fed officials have
suggested two hikes this year, traders are pricing in only one hike at
the end of the year.
* Among Fed speakers scheduled to speak today are San Francisco Fed
president John Williams and Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart who
will speak at 12:25 p.m. ET in Washington.
* Home Depot (N:HD) was up 1.6 percent at $137.50 after the home improvement company raised its full-year sales growth and profit forecast.
* Off-price retailer TJX Cos Inc (N:TJX) was up 3.2 percent at $77.60, the company is expected to report first-quarter results at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Futures snapshot at 7:20:
* S&P 500 e-minis (ESc1) were down 2.5 points, or 0.12 percent, with 146,071 contracts changing hands.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis (NQc1) were down 1.5 points, or 0.03 percent, in volume of 19,312 contracts.
* Dow e-minis (1YMc1) were down 13 points, or 0.07 percent, with 23,169 contracts changing hands.
