Futures fall; Wal-Mart in focus
Investors await earnings from the retail behemoth; government report on store sales also on deck.
LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday as investors awaited quarterly earnings from retail giant Wal-Mart.
At 5:10 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower and pointing to early declines for Wall Street.
But the mood could shift after investors get the latest on the health of consumer spending.
Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) is due to post its quarterly results before the market open.
The Commerce Department's report on April retail sales also is due to be released before the opening bell.
In major deal news, HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) is reportedly close to a deal to buy EDS (EDS, Fortune 500) for up to $13 billion. The move is seen as an attempt by HP to better compete with IBM (IBM, Fortune 500).
In global trade, stocks in Japan and Hong Kong rallied. But China stocks sank after a major earthquake there. European stocks were mixed in morning trading. 
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