NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A new drop in oil prices could give stocks a lift in early trading Tuesday.

U.S. stock futures were mixed, although a comparison to fair value suggested a slightly higher opening for stocks, as oil futures pulled back from the late-day rise in prices Monday.

The November light crude futures contract for NYMEX lost 65 cents to $65.17 a barrel in electronic trading, while the November contract for Brent crude fell 58 cents to $63.35.

In addition to oil, investors will be looking at some new economic readings as well as reports of some new corporate mergers.

At 10 a.m. ET the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for September is expected to fall sharply to 95.0 from 105.6 in August before Hurricane Katrina sent oil and gas prices higher.

"I think it is a critical number. It's one of the first readings we get on consumer confidence post-Katrina," said Wachovia Securities economist Gina Martin. She said that while in the past consumers' views of the strength of the job market drove changes in consumer confidence, this month it could be more the expectation of consumers about their own household financial condition and overall business conditions that drive the closely watched confidence reading.

Also at 10 a.m. comes a government report on new home sales, which are expected to slip to an annual rate of 1.35 million in August from 1.41 million pace in July.

At 2:45 p.m. ET, investors will get to hear comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is appearing via satellite before the National Association of Business Economists.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that health insurer WellPoint (Research) is close to an agreement to buy WellChoice (Research), the No. 1 health insurer in New York state, in a deal that could be worth $6.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that privately held DreamWorks SKG has terminated talks to be acquired by General Electric (Research) NBC Universal unit, ending discussions of a potential $1 billion deal.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Tuesday, although Tokyo ended lower. Major European markets were mixed in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.31 percent from the 4.29 percent level late Monday. The dollar gained ground against on the euro and the yen.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.