Wall Street looks to the Fed

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock futures advanced early Tuesday after a lackluster session, although ongoing fears about a recession and a rise in crude prices could crimp any opening gains.

At 6:22 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street. Stocks closed mixed the previous session after a choppy day of trading that was dominated by economic concerns.

Investors will keep their focus Tuesday on comments from Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren, who are both due to speak about the economic outlook. Plosser will be a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting committee, starting with the Jan. meeting. Rosengren was a voting member last year.

Oil prices rebounded back above $96 a barrel mark after a big selloff Monday on fears that a recession would cut demand. U.S. light crude for February delivery added 95 cents to $96.04 a barrel in electronic trading after losing nearly $3 a barrel the previous session.

Gold prices jumped $15.40 to a record $875 an ounce in early trading Tuesday, lifted by a combination of the weak dollar and high oil prices. The precious metal is seen as a hedge against both inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.

In global trade, Asian stocks ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei edging higher to end a four-session losing streak. European stocks rose in the early going.

Among the economic reports due Tuesday are the pending home sales index and the economic outlook from National Association of Realtors. The trade group is due to release both reports at 10 a.m. ET.

The pending home sales index, which measures homes with signed sales contracts, is forecast to decline 0.8 percent for November, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com. That would be the second worst performance on record for the seven-year old index, better than only the August 2007 reading during the worst of the mortgage market meltdown.

Another look at the battered housing market is due before the market opens when KB Home (KBH, Fortune 500) is slated to report results for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in November. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call forecast a loss of $1.08 a share in its fiscal fourth quarter, which would be worse than the 64 cents a share loss it reported a year earlier. The nation's No. 5 builder by revenue has reported losses in three of its previous four quarters and is forecast to report losses throughout fiscal 2008.

In other corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that James Cayne will give up his title as CEO of embattled investment bank Bear Stearns (BSC, Fortune 500), although he will reportedly hang on to the title of chairman. Shares of the firm gained 2.3 percent in after-hours trading Monday.

There was also a management shakeup at coffee retailer Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500), as Chairman Howard Schultz again assumed the CEO title after the company ousted Jim Donald from the post. The company also announced it would slow the pace of new store openings in the United States and redirect some of that expansion capital to overseas operations. Shares shot up 9 percent in after-hours trading on the news.

Software provider Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) announced early Tuesday it had had made an offer to buy Norwegian enterprise search firm Fast Search & Transfer for $1.2 billion, which represents a 42 perecent premium over where Fast's shares were trading Monday on the Oslo exchange. The offer has the unanimous support of the Norwegian firm's board, according to Microsoft.

Shares of electronics retailer Circuit City (CC, Fortune 500) plunged nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading after it announced that sales at stores opened at least a year, a closely watched retail measure known as same-store sales, fell 11 percent in December. Most major retailers will report same store sales Thursday for the all-important December shopping season.

Embattled automaker Ford (F, Fortune 500) announced plans early Tuesday to invest $500 million to expand its operations in India. Shares of Ford slipped 0.7 percent in Frankfurt trading early Tuesday.

The the Hollywood Foreign Press Association scrapped plans for the traditional Golden Globes awards program, which had been set to air on NBC, a unit of General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), this Sunday, because plans to picket the show by members of the Writer Guild would likely have kept most actors and actresses away from the ceremony. The decision could suggest trouble ahead for the Academy Awards, which are scheduled to air Feb. 24 on Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) unit ABC.