Wall Street heads for tepid open

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were headed for a flat open, following two straight losing sessions, as investors showed little reaction to a report of rising home prices.

S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and Dow Jones industrial average futures were narrowly mixed.

Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.

Wall Street slumped Monday, with the Dow suffering its second straight 100-point loss. A spike in the dollar dragged on commodity shares.

"The whole of the market is not being moved by earnings announcements any more," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners. He said the markets are now focused on economic reports.

Cardillo said stocks would be influenced Tuesday by home prices and consumer confidence reports. However, he said that even more importantly, investors are focused on the initial reading on third-quarter gross domestic product, which comes out on Thursday.

Economy: The Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities showed the fourth straight month-over-month increase.

Home prices in the S&P index rose 1.2% in August, following a 1.6% price gain in July.

Shortly after U.S. markets open, research firm Conference Board releases its reading on consumer confidence. The index is expected to increase to 53.5, according to Briefing.com consensus, from 53.1 the prior month.

Earnings: BP (BP) posted a fall in net profit. although the oil company still managed to top Wall Street's estimates.

Honda (HMC) posted quarterly results that topped expectations. The Japanese automaker also nearly tripled its profit forecast.

World markets: Stocks in Asia retreated, with Japan's Nikkei losing 1.5%. Major indexes in Europe edged higher in midday trading.

Money and oil: The dollar fell versus major international currencies, including the euro, the yen and the British pound.

The price of oil rose 28 cents to $78.96 per barrel in electronic trading.