NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street was poised to open higher Tuesday, with investors encouraged by a surprising rebound in New York area manufacturing and a strong rise in profit at Johnson & Johnson.
The New York Federal Reserve reported that regional manufacturing expanded modestly in April, after shrinking at a record clip in March. Economists, on average, had been expecting another contraction.
And in another positive sign for Wall Street, health care products maker Johnson & Johnson said its first-quarter profit jumped 40 percent on rising sales and a slight decline in costs. Results from the maker of consumer staples ranging from diapers to drugs were a relief, following a spate of mostly disappointing earnings reports last week and Monday.
Investors, however, remain concerned about inflation. The Commerce Department's Producer Price Index registered a much higher-than-anticipated 1.1 percent rise for March, though the core index, which strips out food and energy prices, rose by 0.2 percent, as expected.
Core producer price increases have slowed over the past three months, so investors are not too worried that inflation will keep the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates again if the economy weakens further. However, consumers have been paring back their discretionary spending to afford necessities like food, energy and health care.
After stocks closed Monday moderately lower, Dow futures rose 40, or 0.32 percent, to 12,356. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.40, or 0.33 percent, to 1,335.70. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 12.25, or 0.68 percent, to 1,808.50.
Bond prices dipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.55 percent from 3.51 percent late Monday.
Late Monday, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. agreed to combine in a stock-swap deal that will create the world's biggest airline. Delta shares rose 5 percent in pre-market trading, while Northwest shares rose 10 percent.
U.S. Bancorp reported a 4 percent drop in first-quarter net income on Tuesday, but the results were not as bad as many expected, and an upbeat outlook from the Minneapolis-based bank lifted shares by 2.5 percent in pre-market trading.
Oil prices surged to record highs ahead of the New York Mercantile Exchange's official trading session. Light, sweet crude rose $1.52 to $113.28 a barrel in premarket electronic trading.
Gold prices also rose, while the dollar was mixed against other major currencies.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.77 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.73 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.28 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped 0.26 percent.
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