NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks were set for a comeback Tuesday as investors cheered the latest reading on consumers' willingness to spend.

U.S. stock futures moved higher, indicating a higher open for U.S. markets, after a government report showed strong retail sales for January.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 2.3 percent, trumping analysts' expectations for a rise of 0.9 percent.

Excluding volatile automobile sales, retail sales also blew past forecasts for a gain of 0.8 percent, rising a robust 2.2 percent from a much weaker 0.2 percent in December, as holiday gift card redemptions helped bump up activity in the post-holiday month.

Earlier this month, major retail chains reported stronger-than-expected sales gains in what has become a more important month in the shopping season.

But Target (Research), the nation's No. 3 general retailer, lowered the high end of its sales growth forecast for February, blaming the snowstorm in the Northeast this past weekend.

U.S. stocks fell Monday on outlook concerns for high-flying Internet search engine Google (Research) as well as fears about what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will indicate about future rate hikes in his first Congressional testimony Wednesday as the nation's top central banker.

"I think if you look at the market over the last couple of days, there was so much nervousness about Bernanke that a bounceback is certainly justified," said Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Private Client Services. He said that he's also expecting strong retail sales and lower oil to give a lift to stocks.

"We had the warmest January since 1895, and that presumably lifted sales. Auto sales were certainly strong," he said. He said if oil prices slip near or below the $60 a barrel mark, it could bring buyers into equities.

Oil prices were lower ahead of Wednesday's report on U.S. fuel inventories. The March light crude futures contract for NYMEX fell 60 cents to $60.64 a barrel in electronic trading, while the April contract for Brent crude lost 4 cents to $60.58.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Tuesday, rebounding from Monday's decline, while major European markets were down in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.61 from 4.57 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was lower against the euro and yen.

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