Investing.com
Near 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow futures were down 67 points, S&P 500 futures were down 5 points, and Nasdaq futures were down 9 points - all by less than 0.4%.
Stocks finished little changed on Monday.
The highlight today is Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's speech on monetary policy and the economy. It will be the first time we hear from her since the press conference after the policy meeting two weeks ago.
At least four other regional Fed presidents have spoken since the meeting, and have somewhat endorsed the FOMC's plan to raise rates twice this year.
"After the Yellen speech we expect the market to remain very reluctant to price in an April hike," Deutsche Bank's Alan Ruskin wrote in a client note. "The initial reaction will be restrained in part because participants will wish to avoid getting whipsawed by key data at the end of the week [like the job's report]."
Economic data out today include S&P/Case-Shiller's home price index for January at 9 a.m. ET, and the Conference Board's consumer confidence index at 10 a.m.
The American Petroleum Institute's crude oil inventory numbers will cross after the closing bell. West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York fell further below $40 per barrel, down 2% to as low as $38.53 in early trading.
Lennar reported first-quarter earnings before the market open, beating analysts' expectations for earnings. Rising home prices, in part due to low inventories, boosted its revenues from homebuilding.