NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks were poised to open higher Tuesday, reversing declines it saw in the first trading day of the year.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading as the dollar posted strong gains against both the euro and the yen.

The stocks could be helped by a continued decline in oil prices on unseasonably warm weather in the eastern United States. U.S. crude slipped 21 cents to $41.91 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent oil futures lost $1.51 to $38.95 a barrel in London, which was closed for a holiday Monday.

Most major Asian markets closed lower although Japan's Nikkei was up slightly following a Monday holiday. Major European markets were higher in early trading.

U.S. stocks started 2005 trading with narrow losses Monday, despite a selloff in oil.

Bond prices were lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year treasury up to 4.24 percent from 4.21 percent late Monday.

A report on November factory orders is due out at 10 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect orders to be up 1.0 percent compared with a 0.5 percent rise in October.

Investors and economists will also get to see minutes of the Dec. 14 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee later Tuesday.

In corporate news, Smith Barney downgraded Amazon.com (Research) to a "sell" rating from a "hold" recommendation, according to dealers, citing concerns over sales during the year-end period. Shares of the online retailer fell more almost 2 percent in early trading in Frankfurt Tuesday.

Major automakers are set to report December auto sales throughout the day Tuesday, with General Motors (Research) and Ford Motor (Research) expected to see a drop in sales from year-earlier levels, while major Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor (Research) are seen posting sales increases.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Lockheed Martin (Research) and Northrop Grumman (Research) stand to be the big losers in a tightening of spending by the Pentagon. The paper said Lockheed could lose $18 billion in sales over six years while Northrop loses $8 billion over the same period.