NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street was looking for a mixed open Tuesday amid continuing economic concerns.

Around 7:30 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower; after fair value considerations, the Nasdaq market looked set for a decline at the start, but the broader market was poised for a modest gain.

Oil was higher, after a big runup to start the week, as Iran faced a deadline Tuesday morning to give its formal response to the United Nations demand that it halt its nuclear program.

U.S. light crude gained 18 cents to $72.63 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude traded in London was 27 cents higher at $73.65

Treasury prices turned higher, lowering the 10-year note yield to 4.80 percent from 4.81 percent late Monday.

"After last week's tremendous gains, we're searching for catalysts to hold onto the gains of last week, and there don't appear to be any," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "It's hard to give a lot of credence to whatever moves we do see given the low volumes we're seeing during what's still a vacation period. We'll have to see how the opening plays out."

Major indexes in Asia closed mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei hitting a three-month high. Stocks were also higher in Europe in early trading. The dollar was higher against both the euro and the yen.

In corporate news, luxury home builder Toll Brothers (Charts) reported lower fiscal third-quarter results, although it topped forecasts. It also lowered its full-year earnings guidance, although its new range of earnings was above analysts' recently fallen estimates for the firm.

Cisco Systems (Charts) announced it is buying a privately held on-demand television technology provider, Arroyo Video Solutions, for $92 million. Shares of Cisco gained 1.4 percent in heavy Frankfurt trading.

Ford Motor (Charts) announced it had developed a new generation of diesel engine in 2007 for its large "super-duty" pickup trucks that will reduce emissions to the level of a gasoline engine. Ford announced last week it will cut production by 21 percent in the fourth quarter due to weak demand for its vehicles, particularly its pickup trucks, which are its best-selling products.

Pre-market activity