TODAY'S OPEN: UP

Stocks End Slightly Higher After Questionable Economic Report
PICTURED BELOW: The Oil Services Index ($OSX +1.95%) blasted higher today, closing near its session high and well above the past week's consolidation.

U.S. stock futures advanced on Tuesday, as some easing of tensions in the Middle East gave investors reason to cheer, with oil prices sliding below $65 a barrel.

Yesterday, the major averages opened higher, turned lower in the early going, then rallied in the afternoon to close with very modest gains. The latest slew of economic data cast a dark cloud. However, many influential institutional investors remained on the sidelines, best evidenced by the lower volume levels across the board. Breadth was mixed as advancers led decliners by a 20-to-12 margin on the NYSE and were about even on the Nasdaq exchange. The number of new 52-week highs still led new 52-week lows on both exchanges which is a welcoming sign.

The standout gainers on Monday seemed to mostly be defensive areas as the Oil Services ($OSX +1.95%), Integrated Oil ($XOI +1.00%), Gold & Silver ($XAU +1.67%), and Healthcare ($HMO +1.11%) indexes posted gains of at least +1%. There were some modest gains from the Retail ($RLX +0.36%), Biotechnology ($BTK +0.30%), and Networking ($NWX +0.38%) indexes, meanwhile the Software ($GSO +0.09%), Internet ($DOT -0.08%), and Semiconductor ($SOX -0.03%) indexes were less decisive in their trading direction. The Bank Index ($BKX -1.50%) was among the clear laggard groups and the Broker/Dealer Index ($XBD -0.12%) edged lower.

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