US pre-open: Stocks to hit fresh highs as investors eye Citigroup earnings

US futures pointed to a much firmer open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with indices set to hit new highs as markets reopen after the Martin Luther King Jr holiday.

At 1150 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.9%, with the index on course to breach the 26,000 level at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.5% and 0.6% higher, respectively, as investors eyed the latest earnings from banking giant Citigroup.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "New record highs look on the agenda for US equity markets when they reopen on Tuesday, with futures indicating gains of between 0.5% and 1% from Friday’s close.

"It’s been a relatively quiet start to the new year and yet markets have continued to push on higher, with investors clearly very optimistic ahead of the fourth quarter earnings season. Not only is the US coming off a strong quarter previously but the new tax reform measures are continuing to provide a boost, with investors keen to hear more about what impact this will have on future earnings. Only six companies are scheduled to report on Tuesday but this will pick up significantly over the coming weeks."

On the corporate front, shares in UnitedHealth rose in pre-market trade after the insurer's quarterly earnings beat expectations.

Elsewhere, Ford Motor was likely to be active after saying it will spend $11bn on electric cars through 2022.

US-listed shares of oil giant BP were also likely to be in focus after the company said it expects to take a post-tax non-operating charge of around $1.7bn in the fourth quarter as part of the class action settlement of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil well spill in the US in 2010.

Earnings were still due from banking heavyweight Citigroup and CSX.

On the macroeconomic calendar, the NY Empire State manufacturing index is due at 1330 GMT. It's expected to show a rise to 18.5 from 18.0 for January.