Stocks set for gains at open
On the final day of the second quarter and first half, investors look forward to a grab bag of key economic data.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised to open the last session of 2009's first half slightly higher, ahead of economic reports on consumer confidence and housing.
At 9 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were higher.
Futures measure current index values against the perceived future performance.
On Monday, stocks ended higher as investors took advantage of the recent slide on Wall Street. Adding to the rally was end-of-the-quarter portfolio dressing by managers trying to show investors that they have this quarter's winners on the books.
Going into the second quarter's final day, the Dow is up more than 900 points, or 12%. The S&P 500 is 16% higher while the Nasdaq composite has gained nearly 21%.
For the first half, the Dow is down 247 points, or 2.8%, while the S&P is 2.7% higher and the Nasdaq has risen more than 14%.
"We're 40% up from our lows and 40% below our highs, and people aren't sure what their next move is going to be, up or down," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
Going forward, Hogan said that any kind of positive stock movement is going to depend on "better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter" and "better-than-expected guidance."
All financial markets are closed Friday for the Independence Day weekend.
Economic reports on tap: The June Consumer Confidence index from the Conference Board is expected to have risen to 55.3 from 54.9, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The S&P/Case Shiller 20-city home price index is expected to have fallen 18.63% in April from a year ago, after posting a year-over-year decline of 18.7% in March.
The Chicago PMI, a regional read on manufacturing, is expected to have risen to 39 in June from 34.9 in May.
World markets: Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1.8%. European markets were little changed in early trading.
Oil and money: The price of oil rose 10 cents a barrel to $71.59. The dollar fell against the yen, euro and British pound. 
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