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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were headed for a lower open Tuesday, as Asian and European markets lost ground and investors look ahead to new data on the housing market.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were lower ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Investors will spend Tuesday looking for signs of strength in the housing market, while also watching for clues about the direction of the U.S. economy in addresses from senior policymakers.
The government is scheduled to release new reports on housing starts and building permits on Tuesday morning.
While recent data on the job market and retail sales suggest that the economy may be healing, the housing market remains a trouble spot. Strong numbers Tuesday would help stocks sustain the gains made so far this year.
In the afternoon, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a lecture at the at the George Washington School of Business. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, meanwhile, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee.
Stocks closed out with modest gains Monday after a morning of choppy trading.
Economy: Housing starts for February are expected to come in at an annualized rate of 705,000, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com. February building permits are projected at an annualized rate of 695,000.
World markets: European stocks were lower in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) shed 0.5%%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) both lost 0.6%.
Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) dropped 1.4% and the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong lost 1.1%. Japan's markets were closed for the vernal equinox holiday.
Companies: Companies including financial firm Jefferies Group (JEF) and luxury goods seller Tiffany & Co (TIF) are scheduled to report their quarterly results Tuesday.
Jefferies is expected to post quarterly earnings of 29 cents a share on $699 million in revenue, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.
Tiffany & Co is expected to report earnings of $1.42 a share on $1.2 billion in revenue.
Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) shares were up slightly in premarket trading, after the bank denied rumors that it's planning to raise money by issuing stock in a secondary offering.
Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) shares were up by roughly 0.5% premarket. The company announced late Monday that it had sold more than 3 million new iPads, since the new version's March 16 launch.
Earlier in the day, Apple announced plans for a share buyback and a quarterly dividend.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar strengthened against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.
Oil for April delivery slipped 91 cents to $107.18 a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery fell $19.00 to $1,648.30 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 2.36% from 2.38% late Monday.
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